Bulldogs to host Rothsay in non-conference action

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Otter Tail Central offense came alive last Monday as the Bulldogs scored 17 runs and pumped out 20 hits in a Park Region Conference match up against the Sebeka Trojans. Unfortunately the Bulldogs came up just short in its bid to knock off one of the top teams in the conference, but they continue to be competitive on the field as they head down the stretch of their conference schedule. 

This week the Bulldogs will host Rothsay in a non-conference game on Tuesday, before traveling to Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale on Thursday. 

Monday

Otter Tail Central and Sebeka combined for 35 runs and the Bulldogs outhit the Trojans by a 20-13 margin in what turned out to be a slugfest on Monday night. It was OTC’s best offensive game of the season as they looked to knock off one of the top teams in the Park Region Conference. 

In fact, OTC looked poised to pick up their first conference win of the season when they broke a 15-15 tie in the top of the seventh inning, only to have the Trojans score 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the seventh inning to win in walk-off fashion.

“I’m extremely proud of the progress we’ve made in a short amount of time,” said head coach Heather Akerman.

The Bulldogs ultimately fell by a score of 18-17, but were able to score at least 1 run in each of the last five innings of the game. The highlight came in the fourth inning when the Bulldogs scored 10 runs. 

Kenady Cameron led the charge offensively as she went 4-6 at the plate with 6 RBIs, including three doubles. Liz Lukken went 4-6 from the plate with 4 runs scored and Mily Albjerg finished a perfect 3-3 at the plate to help pace the Bulldogs.

On the mound the OTC pitchers walked 12 hitters, but only surrendered 5 earned runs as OTC had 7 errors as a team. 

Akerman said the Bulldogs will look to clean up some things on the field, but was proud of the effort last week. 

“We need to clean things up a bit, but the girls are showing they are competitors,” she said.

AB R H     BI

B Christianson 6 2 2 1

L Lukken 6 4 4 2

H Radzwill 6 1 2 0

S Akerman 5 3 2 2

K Cameron 6 1 4 6

E Larson 5 0 0 0

K Bunkowski 4 2 1 0

M Albjerg 3 2 3 1

K Robinson 0 0 0 0

K Trosdahl 2 0 0 1

D Grabe 4 2 2 1

HITTING- 2B- K Cameron

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- S Akerman 3.2-7-10-2-7-4, K Cameron 4.0-6-8-3-5-3

Tuesday

OTC dropped a pair of games to Wadena-Deer Creek on Tuesday in conference action. The Bulldogs fell to WDC by scores of 12-2 and 17-1.

In the opening game of the night, WDC jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never looked back as OTC was only able to get 1 hit in a 17-1 loss. 

OTC was able to score a pair of runs in the top of the second inning in the nightcap, but ultimately fell by a score of 12-2. The runs came on a Kenady Cameron hit in the second inning. 

Head coach Heather Akerman said the team matched up well against the Wolverines, but once again committed too many errors to come away with the win. Between the two games the Bulldogs committed 19 errors in the field. 

“The girls matched up against a very good WDC team.  We committed way too many errors today, which led to several WDC runs,” said Akerman. “I give a lot of credit to WDC as they played clean defense and hit the ball well.”

AB R H     BI

B Christianson 2 0 0 0

L Lukken 2 0 0 0

H Radzwill 2 0 0 0

S Akerman 1 1 0 0

K Cameron 2 0 0 0

E Dirkman 1 0 1 1

E Larson 1 0 0 0

K Bunkowski 1 0 0 0

M Albjerg 1 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- E Dirkman

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- S Akerman 4.0-12-17-7-4-4

AB R H     BI

B Christianson 3 0 0 0

L Lukken 3 0 0 0

H Radzwill 3 0 0 0

S Akerman 2 1 0 0

K Cameron 3 1 2 0

E Dirkman 3 0 2 0

E Larson 3 0 2 2

K Bunkowski 3 0 0 0

M Albjerg 2 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- E Dirkman, K Cameron

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- K Cameron 5.2-6-12-6-9-10

Friday

A 3-run top of the third inning tied Otter Tail Central’s game against Barnesville up at 4-4, but the Trojans were able to score a pair of runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to come away with an 8-4 win on Friday night.

“Today was a great day for a softball game.  The Bulldogs came out and played very well,” said head coach Heather Akerman. “I was impressed we were able to bounce back after two tough games on Tuesday.”

Hannah Radzwill and Sophie Akerman led the way offensively for the Bulldogs as they each finished with a pair of hits. Akerman and Kenady Cameron each drove in a pair of runs in the loss.

AB R H     BI

B Christianson 4 1 1 0

L Lukken 3 1 0 0

H Radzwill 3 1 2 0

S Akerman 4 1 2 2

K Cameron 3 0 1 2

E Dirkman 3 0 0 0

M Durbin 2 0 0 0

M Albjerg 1 0 0 0

K Bunkowski 3 0 0 0

D Grabe 3 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- K Cameron, S Akerman

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- S Akerman 3.0-7-6-4-4-0, K Cameron 6.0-3-2-2-1-1