Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
The Eagles opened the season trailing the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Jaguars 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. The Jaguars rallied to within three twice – 4-1 after four innings and 5-2 after six innings – but would get no closer in an eventual home loss on April 10.
In the first game of the season, Eagles coach Dave Dziengel said his team couldn’t find a way to win.
“I thought that we hit okay in this game,” coach Dziengel said via email, “but did not make enough plays in the field.”
For the game, the Eagles scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings. The team finished with 10 hits, led by two hits apiece from Alison Thielen, Laura Heuring, and Olivia Kramer.
In its season-opening game, the Eagles committed five errors, leading to three unearned runs.
Lily Schultz took the pitching loss for the Eagles, giving up eight runs, five earned, on nine hits and three walks, and striking out three over seven innings.
Litchfield
After giving up four unearned runs to the Litchfield Dragons in the top of the first inning, the Eagles made some noise in its half of the inning. The Eagles answered with three runs of its own, highlighted by a Zoey Schmidt two-run home run.
The Dragons scored a run in the second to put the Eagles in a 5-3 deficit, but the Eagles took the lead for good, at 7-5, with a four-run second inning. The Eagles eventually pulled away with the 18-8 home win via ten-run rule in six innings on April 11.
“We had a really nice come from behind win against Litchfield,” coach Dziengel said via email.
As a team, the Eagles finished with 16 hits. Olivia Kramer finished four for five with three RBI and three doubles, and Laura Heuring and Lily Schultz also posted three hits each to lead the Eagles.
Lily Schultz earned the pitching win, giving up eight runs, four earned, on 14 hits and five walks, over five and one-third innings. Hayley Berg came on in relief, facing a bases loaded jam in the sixth. She recorded a strikeout and a groundout to prevent the Dragons for adding on to the two runs it already scored in the inning.
Holdingford (Game One)
The Eagles took the first lead versus the Holdingford Huskers with a two-run second inning. It was nearly all Huskers after that. Outscored 9-1 over the final five innings, the Eagles eventually fell by a 9-3 final in game one of a road doubleheader on April 16.
“We did not play well enough in this game to win,” coach Dziengel said via email. “[We had] too many errors and base-running mistakes.”
For the game, the Eagles committed six errors, leading to four unearned runs.
The team finished with five hits, with Alison Thielen, Lily Schultz, Laura Heuring, Olivia Kramer, and Siena Hemmesch each recording one hit.
Hayley Berg took the pitching loss for the Eagles, giving up nine runs, five earned, on eight hits and six walks, and striking out two over six innings.
Holdingford (Game Two)
Leading 9-6 heading into the seventh inning, the Eagles allowed the Huskers to rally back behind some pitching wildness. The Huskers scored four runs on four walks and one hit to put the Eagles in a 10-9 deficit. In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles rallied back with a run to send the game to extra innings.
Then things went “pear-shaped” in the eighth, according to coach Dziengel, seeing the Huskers break the game open with seven runs in the eighth inning. The Eagles eventually fell, dropping game two of the doubleheader by a 17-10 final in eight innings.
After watching his team record just five hits in game one, coach Dziengel said his team’s “bats came alive” in game two. As a team, the Eagles finished with 17 hits. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, the Eagles responded with a four-run bottom of the first behind an Ella Anderson three-run home run.
Both teams continued to score throughout, but the Eagles continued to lead. After the first inning, the Eagles scored one run in the second, two in the fourth, and two more in the sixth to take that 9-6 lead into the final inning.
The Eagles committed seven errors in the game, leading to nine unearned runs.
Offensively, Bella Rausch had “a nice game,” according to coach Dziengel, securing her first varsity hits in finishing two for two with a double. Zoey Schmidt and Ella Anderson both had three hits each to also pace the Eagles.
Lily Schultz took the pitching loss for the Eagles, giving up 17 runs, eight earned, on twelve hits, and nine walks, and striking out four over seven and one-third innings.
Albany
Trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning at home versus the Albany Huskies, the Eagles rallied to tie the game at 4-4 and send it to extra innings – the team’s second straight extra inning game.
Coach Dziengel watched his team play and pitch much better in this game, but it wasn’t enough. The Eagles gave up a run in the eighth and fell by a 5-4 final on April 17.
Despite the team’s better play, coach Dziengel did highlight how his group still committed too many errors, finishing with four errors that led to four unearned runs.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Eagles struggled early versus a “very good” Huskies starting pitcher, according to coach Dziengel, striking eight times in the first 11 plate appearances.
“We made some good adjustments at the plate after those first 3 innings by collecting 12 hits,” coach Dziengel said via email, “but we could not get the winning runs across.”
The Eagles took its first lead of the game, at 3-2, after a three-run fourth inning. The Huskies retook the lead with a two-run sixth before the Eagles’ seventh-inning rally.
Coach Dziengel added how his group couldn’t come up with that big two-out hit, leaving numerous runners on in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
Offensively, Ella Anderson led the Eagles with a three for four day at the plate. Alison Thielen finished two for five to also pace the Eagles.
Hayley Berg took the pitching loss for the Eagles, giving up three runs, none earned, on two hits and two walks, and striking out two over four relief innings.