Bulldogs to open sub section tournament against third seeded Park Rapids Area

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs wrapped up their regular season last week with three tough non-conference losses. The Bulldogs fell to Rothsay in a pair of games by scores of 26-16 and 13-6, before falling the Minnewaska Area by a score of 12-7 to wrap up their regular season. 

The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a record of 5-13 overall and received the sixth seed in the sub section tournament. They opened the sub section tournament on the road against third seeded Park Rapids Area on Monday afternoon (results of the game were not available at the time of press). 

The winner of the game will take on either second seeded Menahga or seventh seeded Perham in the sub section semi-finals on Thursday in Menahga.

On the other side of the sub section, top seeded Wadena-Deer Creek received a bye in the opening round and will take on either fourth seeded Barnesville or fifth seeded Breckenridge on Thursday night.

Tuesday

OTC and Rothsay combined for 61 runs and 48 hits in a pair of wild non-conference games on Tuesday night.

In the opening game of the night, the Bulldogs took a 16-12 lead in the top of the fifth inning thanks to a seven run top half of the inning, only to have the Tigers score 14 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as they came away with a 26-16 win in five innings due to the 10-run rule. 

The Bulldogs actually outhit the Tigers by a 15-12 margin, but three errors and 18 walks proved to be too much to overcome for OTC.

Ezrah Baker and Dirkman each finished with three hits to lead the way for OTC offensively. Baker and Brooklyn Christianson each finished with four RBIs.

Kaylee Trosdahl took the loss in the circle as she gave up four hits and seven earned runs, while walking 11 hitters. 

In the second game of the day, Rothsay jumped out to an early 7-0 and was able to hang on to a 13-6 win over the Bulldogs. While OTC trailed 9-0 after the top of the second inning, the Bulldogs fought back with two runs in the second inning and added a single run in the fifth inning, sixth inning and a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Dealia Grabe had a big day at the plate for the Bulldogs as she went 3-4 with a pair of RBIs in the game, while Liz Lukken went 2-4 from the plate. Lukken took the loss in the circle after coming in the game in relief in the top of the first inning. She pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs and struck out six hitters. 

Hallie Weller pitched a scoreless top of the seventh inning and struck out one hitter in the loss.

AB R H     BI

B. Christianson 4 1 2 4

K. Robinson 3 2 1 1

L. Lukken 5 1 1 0

E. Baker 4 3 3 4

E. Dirkman 4 3 3 3

K. Trosdahl 2 2 1 0

B. Bunkowski 0 0 0 0

M. Hoekstra 0 0 0 0

E. Larsen 2 2 2 3

M. Durbin 3 0 1 0

D. Grabe 2 2 1 0

H. Hexum 0 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- E. Larsen, E. Baker 2, B. Christianson

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- K. Trosdahl 4.0-4-12-7-11-4, B. Bunkowski 0.2-4-10-10-6-1, M. Hoekstra 0.0-4-4-3-1-0

AB R H     BI

B. Christianson 3 1 1 0

Z. Hochenstein 0 0 0 0

K. Robinson 4 0 0 0

L. Lukken 4 0 2 0

M. Durbin 0 1 0 0

E. Baker 4 0 1 0

E. Dirkman 4 0 0 0

K. Trosdahl 2 1 0 0

H. Weller 0 1 0 0

E. Larsen 2 2 1 2

D. Grabe 4 0 3 2

B. Bunkowski 2 0 0 0

L. Conner 0 0 0 0

HITTING- 2B- E. Larsen, E. Baker

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- K. Trosdahl 0.1-6-7-7-4-0, L. Lukken 5.2-7-6-5-3-6, H. Weller 1.0-0-0-0-0-1

Thursday

OTC came out on fire on Thursday night as the Bulldogs scored six runs in the top of the first inning, but five errors led to six unearned runs as Minnewaska Area was able to top OTC by a score of 12-7 on Thursday night. The Lakers scored a pair of runs in the first and third innings, as well as four runs each in the fifth and sixth innings to come away with the win. 

Emma Dirkman, Ezrah Baker and Esme Larsen led the way offensively for the Bulldogs as they all finished with a pair of hits. 

Sophie Akerman took the loss in the circle as she went five innings and gave up four earned runs and eight hits. 

AB R H     BI

B. Christianson 4 2 1 0

S. Akerman 3 1 1 0

E. Dirkman 4 1 2 2

E. Baker 3 1 2 1

K. Cameron 3 0 1 1

E. Larsen 4 1 2 0

D. Grabe 4 1 1 0

L. Conner 2 0 0 0

B. Bunkowski 2 0 0 0

K. Robinson 2 0 1 2

HITTING- 2B- E. Dirkman, B. Christianson

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- S. Akerman 5.0-8-8-4-2-0, K. Cameron 1.0-2-4-2-3-0