FIELD TWP — North Woods followed up a Thursday loss to Ely this past week by splitting a pair of subsequent games, losing 8-4 at home to Carlton-Wrenshall before bouncing back with an 11-5 road win over Mt. Iron-Buhl.

Carlton-Wrenshall
North Woods saw a four-run lead slip away Friday as Carlton-Wrenshall rallied late for an 8-4 win over the Grizzlies.
The game was scoreless through four innings before North Woods broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Brynn Chosa opened the inning with a single to center, and Ella Kruse and Lauren Burnett followed with walks to load the bases. Emarie Gibson then singled to shortstop to score Chosa and keep the bases loaded.
Kruse later stole home to make it 2-0, while Gibson advanced to second. Josie Gibson followed with a line-drive single to right, scoring Emarie Gibson, and Sophie Bangs capped the inning with a double to center that brought Josie Gibson home for a 4-0 Grizzlies lead.
The Raptors answered immediately, scoring four runs in the sixth on five hits, including three doubles, to tie the game. Carlton-Wrenshall then added four more in the seventh.
North Woods put two runners on in the bottom of the seventh when Evalyn Thiel and Zoey Burckhardt singled, but the Grizzlies couldn’t extend the rally.
Burckhardt took the loss in the circle, allowing eight runs on 15 hits while striking out seven. North Woods finished with 10 hits, led by Thiel, Burckhardt and Josie Gibson with two each.

Mt. Iron-Buhl
North Woods rebounded on Monday with an 11-5 road win over Mt. Iron-Buhl, using a seven-run sixth inning to break open what had been a tight game.
MIB struck first with two runs in the third, but the Grizzlies answered in the fourth. Evalyn Thiel opened the inning with a single, and Brynn Chosa followed with a single to put two runners aboard. After a strikeout and a groundout, Kayla Dougherty doubled to left, scoring courtesy runner Piper Bundy and Chosa to tie the game. Ella Kruse followed with a triple to right, bringing Dougherty home and giving North Woods a 3-2 lead.
The Grizzlies added a run in the fifth when Emarie Gibson scored on a Chosa sacrifice fly to left for a 4-2 lead.
North Woods then put the game away in the sixth. Savannah Villebrun started the rally with a single, and Dougherty was hit by a pitch before Kruse doubled to right to score Villebrun. Sophie Bangs followed with a two-run single to right, scoring Kruse and Dougherty. Emarie Gibson singled, Josie Gibson was hit by a pitch, and Thiel walked to force in Bangs. Zoey Burckhardt later singled to right to score Emarie Gibson, and Villebrun capped the inning with a two-run double to left as the Grizzlies stretched the lead to 11-2.
MIB scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh, but Burckhardt finished off the win in the circle, allowing seven hits while striking out 10.
North Woods finished with 14 hits. Emarie Gibson and Villebrun had three hits each, while Kruse had two extra-base hits.
North Woods got production up and down the lineup, with seven different players driving in runs. Dougherty, Bangs, Villebrun, and Kruse each had two RBIs, while Chosa, Burckhardt, and Thiel added one apiece.