OTC to host Barnesville on Friday

Photo by Chad Koenen
Sophie Akerman fires a pitch to the plate during last week’s road game in New York Mills. The Bulldogs fell to the Eagles by a score of 16-5 in five innings.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs dropped three games against a pair of teams atop the Park Region Conference last week.

The Bulldogs fell to Menahga 3-0 and 11-0 on Tuesday night, before dropping a single game to New York Mills by a score of 16-5. 

Lillian Conner connects with a pitch during last week’s game against New York Mills.

This week the Bulldogs will travel to Wadena-Deer Creek on Tuesday night for a doubleheader, before hitting the road on Thursday night for another conference doubleheader against Sebeka. 

On Friday the Bulldogs will get a preview of the Section 8AA tournament when they host Barnesville in non-conference action.

Tuesday

An OTC error and a single in the top of the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie and Menahga added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning on four more hits to come away with a 3-0 win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday. Both teams were strong in the circle as Sophie Akerman collected the lone OTC hit, while Kenady Cameron surrendered just five hits and one earned run in the loss.

 Dealia Grabe fields a ground ball in right field during last week’s Park Region Conference game against the Eagles.

“The girls struggled hitting against a very good Menahga pitcher,” said head coach Heather Akerman. “I thought we did a great job staying focused throughout the game.”

In the second game of the night OTC continued to struggle at the plate as they collected just two hits and surrendered four errors on their way to a 11-0 loss to Menahga. 

Lillian Conner collected both his for the Bulldogs as she went a perfect 2-2 at the plate.

Menahga scored one run in the first inning, eight in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth inning to end the game by the 10-run rule.

Sophie Akerman took the loss on the mound as she went 3 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits, seven runs, four earned runs and struck out a pair of hitters. 

AB R H     BI

L. Lukken 3 0 0 0

S. Akerman 2 0 0 0

T. Trosdahl 1 0 0 0

K. Cameron 2 0 0 0

E. Baker 2 0 0 0

E. Dirkman 2 0 0 0

E. Larsen 2 0 0 0

K. Robinson 0 0 0 0

L. Conner 2 0 2 0

M. Durbin 1 0 0 0

B. Christianson 0 0 0 0

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- S. Akerman 3.2-7-7-4-1-2, K. Trosdahl 0.1-3-4-2-3-0

AB R H     BI

B. Christianson 3 0 0 0

L. Lukken 3 0 0 0

S. Akerman 3 0 1 0

E. Baker 3 0 0 0

K. Cameron 2 0 0 0

E. Dirkman 2 0 0 0

E. Larsen 2 0 0 0

L. Conner 2 0 0 0

D. Grabe 2 0 0 0

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- K. Cameron 7.0-5-3-1-3-4

Thursday

OTC looked poised to knock off the New York Mills Eagles for the second time this season as Ezrah Baker hit her fourth career home run in the top of the first inning to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead, but NY Mills scored 11 runs in the bottom of the second inning to pull away for good. The Eagles would go on to win by a score of 16-5 in five innings. The Eagles added another run in the third inning and two more runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.

On the other hand, OTC scored three more runs in the top of the third inning and came away with six hits in the game. They were led offensively by Baker who went 2-3 with three RBIs in the loss. The Bulldogs also committed four errors that led to four unearned runs.

Kenady Cameron took the loss on the mound as she went three innings and gave up eight hits and 12 runs, while walking four hitters. Sophie Akerman pitched the final 1 1/2 innings and gave up six hits and four earned runs. 

AB R H     BI

B. Christianson 1 2 0 0

S. Akerman 3 1 1 0

L. Lukken 3 1 1 2

E. Baker 3 1 2 3

K. Cameron 3 0 1 0

E. Dirkman 3 0 1 0

E. Larsen 1 0 0 0

D. Grabe 2 0 0 0

K. Trosdahl 0 0 0 0

L. Conner 2 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- E. Baker

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- K. Cameron 3.0-8-12-8-4-0