Silver Bay finished runner-up in the Minnesota State Class A Girls Fastpitch Tournament last spring. With seven of nine starters back this year, it was expected that the Mariners would have a cakewalk through local Class A teams, but on Monday night AlBrook showed that Silver Bay can expect some tough competition this season as the Falcons fell 9-4 in a spirited game in Cloquet.
"I thought we did a lot of good things," said AlBrook coach Tim Anvid. "It was a tough way to open, against such a good team, but I thought we did pretty well."
AlBrook scored in the first inning when Kayla Blom rocked a triple to score Heidi Willeck, giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
"It was our first time on a field," explained Anvid. "We have been outside this spring only once and that was on tar, so considering our lack of time outside, it wasn't all bad."
The Falcons' lead held up until the top of the fifth when the Mariners' Natosha Rohloff belted a bases-loaded triple to put Silver Bay up 4-1.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sam Downey, the Mariners pitcher, allowed just three Falcons hits while striking out 13 in the game. However, the Falcons did manage to pester the star pitcher for three more runs in the bottom of the seventh before Silver Bay shut the door on any further threat.
Olivia Paulseth led the Mariners with three hits and Jen Huss finished with a pair of hits.
Kayla Blom had two hits and Emily Anvid added the other hit for the Falcons who received a decent first outing from pitcher Jen Pederson.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
