Seciton 8AA tournament to kick off next week

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Otter Tail Central softball team dropped five games in recent action. The Bulldogs dropped a pair of games to both Pillager and Parkers Prairie, while also falling to Barnesville. 

This week the Bulldogs will host Pelican Rapids on Monday night, before traveling to Sebeka for a doubleheader on Tuesday night. 

The Section 8AA tournament gets underway next week. 

May 3

OTC dropped a pair of games to Pillager by scores of 11-1 and 9-1 on May 3. The big difference in the game came in the third inning when the Huskies scored 6 runs and followed that up with 3 more runs in the top of the fourth inning. The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the third inning for the Bulldogs. 

OTC was led offensively by Alivia Gunderson who went 1-2 with a double and a run scored. Ezrah Baker and Emily Christensen also picked up singles in the loss. 

Katie Aune took the loss on the mound as she pitched 5 innings and gave up 10 hits, 11 runs and walked 7 batters. 

In the second game of the night, OTC out hit Pillager by a 9-8 margin, but ultimately fell by a score of 9-1. 

After Pillager scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Bulldogs got on the scoreboard when Jenna Allen brought Sophie Akerman across the plate on a fielder’s choice to make the score 3-1.

From there, the Huskies were able to score 1 run in the second inning, 3 runs in the third inning and a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to come away with the 9-8 run. 

The Bulldogs were led offensively by Baker, Brooklyn Christianson and Akerman who each had a pair of hits. Emily Christensen, Hannah Radzwill and Gunderson each had 1 hit in the loss. 

Akerman took the loss on the mound as she gave up 8 hits, 8 earned runs and 6 walks, while striking out 3 hitters. 

May 5

The Bulldogs took an early lead, but were unable to hold on as Barnesville defeated OTC by a score of 11-4 on May 5. 

OTC scored single runs in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings and pounded out 10 hits in the game. Unfortunately, Barnesville scored 1 run in both the second and fourth innings, while scoring 2 runs in the third inning, 3 runs in the fifth inning and 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Hannah Radzwill led the way offensively for OTC with 3 hits, including a pair of doubles and 2 RBIs, while Liz Lukken had a pair of hits in the loss. Ezrah Baker, Dealia Grabe, Jenna Allen, Katie Aune and Alivia Gunderson each finished with 1 hit.

Aune took the loss on the mound as she gave up 15 hits, 11 runs, 2 walks and struck out 4 hitters. 

May 6

OTC dropped both games in a doubleheader against Parkers Prairie on May 6. In the opening game of the night, OTC fell by a score of 7-6 after the Panthers overcame a 6-3 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, before the Panthers answered with 1 run of their own. 

The Bulldogs scored a run in the third inning, 2 runs in the fourth inning and a run in the top of the fifth inning to take a 6-2 lead. Parkers Prairie added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, before scoring 4 runs to overtake the Bulldogs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Katie Aune led the way offensively with 4 hits in the loss, while Ezrah Baker and Sophie Akerman each finished with a pair of hits. Emmie Lundquist, Liz Lukken, Jenna Allen and Dealia Grabe each finished with 1 hit in the loss. 

Aune took the loss on the mound after pitching 6 1/3 innings. She gave up 10 hits, 5 earned runs and 2 strikeouts. 

In the second game of the night, the Bulldogs took a 5-1 lead after a 4 run bottom of the second inning, but couldn’t hold on as Parkers Prairie came away with a 14-6 win.

After OTC took an early lead, Parkers Prairie scored runs in bunches as they scored 4 runs in the top of the third inning, 8 runs in the top of the sixth inning and a run in the top of the seventh inning to come away with the win.

OTC out hit the Panthers by a 13-10 margin, but committed 6 errors in the loss.

Baker, Brooklyn Christianson, Lundquist, Lukken, Aune and Grabe each finished with 2 hits. Lundquist finished with 3 RBIs and Baker scored a pair of runs in the loss. Allen finished with a single in the loss.

Akerman took the loss on the mound as she gave up 10 hits and just 6 earned runs, while striking out 7 hitters.