The week of April 19 saw the Kimball fast-pitch team play four of the five games scheduled. The week got off to a good start with a come-from-behind 10-8 win over Pierz, but fizzled as the week concluded with losses to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (HLW-W) Thursday and to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) and New London-Spicer (NL-S) on Saturday at a tournament in Paynesville. Tuesday’s game with BBE was rained out and is rescheduled for May 7. Cubs win against Pierz, 10-8 The Cubs continued a disturbing trend on Monday, April 19, by giving up four unearned runs to Pierz in the first inning with two outs. The Cubs got three runs back in the second inning on scores by Jodine Lemke, Jenna Stenger and Amanda Schiefelbein. Pierz added three more in the third, with two outs to go up 7-3. Kimball got two runs in the fourth on a two-run home run from Lemke. Kimball tied the game in the sixth when Casey Williams singled, Angie Garding tripled-home pinch runner Kari Mackereth who then scored herself on a single by Lemke. Pierz added a run in the bottom of the inning before reliever Whitney Gettler could end the inning. Down 8-7 in the seventh the Cubs rallied again. Amelia Hentges scored on a triple by Gettler who then was driven in by Mackereth who herself was driven in by Garding to give Kimball a 10-8 lead. Whitney Gettler got the win in relief by pitching nearly two scoreless innings. Lemke was 3-4 with three RBIs and Garding was 2-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs. Mackereth and Stenger each scored twice, as did Lemke. Loss to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Undefeated HLW-W came to Kimball Thursday, April 23, and showed why they are leading the conference. Kimball took a 2-0 lead on runs by Lemke and Jami Weigelt, but the Lakers took the lead for good in the third 3-2. They extended their lead to 12-3 in the fifth. The Cubs had a six-run rally in the bottom of the inning highlighted by Lemke’s base-clearing triple to bring the score to 12-9. However, the bottom fell out in the last two innings, and HLW-W pulled away for the win. Four Kimball pitchers gave up 14 hits – but even worse – walked 16 batters to give HLW-W numerous scoring chances. Amelia Hentges led the offense with 2-3 and one RBI. Tournament nightmare Saturday, April 24, was the Paynesville Tournament and the Cubs played ACGC and NL-S. The Kimball offense stayed in bed for the morning as the Cubs could only manage five hits in the first game and two in the second game. The first game was again a control nightmare as three pitchers surrendered 16 walks to send the Cubs to a 9-4 defeat. Jen Schefers was 2-3 with a run scored. The second game was a different story for the pitching staff. Whitney Gettler walked two and struck out three, but the defense collapsed, committing five errors leading to seven unearned runs. With Jen Schefers the only Kimball runner to score, the game went to NL-S and the Cubs went home. This week continues with another busy schedule with games Monday, April 26, vs. Holdingford at home, Tuesday, April 27, at EV-W, Thursday, April 29, with Rockford at home, and another Saturday Tournament May 1 at Kimball with Royalton and MACCRAY.
