In a key Lakes Conference softball matchup, Estherville-Lincoln Central shut down Spirit Lake on the Indians home diamond to grab a 5-0 win Monday night. Spirit Lake, which entered the game as the 15th-ranked team in Class 3A, notched just four hits against ELC’s Kendall Bosch. Amanda Bueltel had two of the hits. Bosch struck out six for the win, and received offensive support from Morgan Schichtl, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs driven in. Emily Kirchner was also 3-for-4 at the plate. The Midgets are now 7-6 for the year and 4-1 in the conference. The Indians drop to 14-3 with a league mark of 3-2. Spirit Lake will venture out of conference to host Sibley-Ocheyedan on Tuesday. That game will be broadcast live on KUOO Campus Radio and online at ExploreOkoboji.com, as well as Network1Sports.com.
Emmetsburg maintained their stronghold on the Lakes Conference standings with a narrow 5-3 victory over Cherokee last night. Morgan Vlasman hit a two-run homer, while Hillary Pico and Aly Berven each notched a hit and a RBI. Ashton Connelly struck out seven and allowed six hits as the winning pitcher to push the E-Hawks to 6-0 in the league and now 12-2 overall. Emmetsburg, the No. 6 team in Class 2A, travels to Graettinger-Terril on Tuesday.
The Harris-Lake Park softball team put two tally marks in the win column Monday, sweeping Ruthven-Ayrshire in a Cornbelt Conference doubleheader. The Wolves took game one 12-2, with Macy Gunderson dominating in the circle and at the plate. The freshman allowed two hits and struck out five, while also going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in. Noreen Morrow also had three hits and two RBI. Gunderson again hurled her way to the win in the nightcap, a 5-4 victory. This time she limited the Raiders to five hits and set four batters down via the K. Anna Brandt went 2-for-2 and scored twice, while Emily Anderson drove in a run on two hits. HLP improves to 4-9 overall and 3-3 in the league.
Over in the Siouxland Conference, Okoboji took advantage of the run-rule to defeat Sibley-Ocheyedan 13-0 in six innings. The win improves the Pioneers to 10-7 on the year and gets them to an even 3-3 in the league. On Tuesday, Okoboji plays host to North Sentral Kossuth/Armstrong-Ringsted, which is ranked 5th in Class 1A.
