Harris-Lake Park swept both games of a doubleheader against Cornbelt Conference rival Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Thursday in Lake Park. The opener ended with the Wolves winning, 3-1, behind Macy Gunderson, who got the win on the mound. The sophomore hurled seven innings of five-hit ball and struck out seven. Gunderson helped her own cause at the plate, leading the Wolves with two hits. In game two, HLP stranded six base runners over the course of the first six innings before breaking through in the seventh to get the come-from-behind win over the Knights. With one out and a runner at second, pre-freshman Zayda (Zi-duh) Elbuytari (El-buy-tree) singled, which scored Miranda Brueggman. After Gunderson struck out and Mariah Gath walked, Emily Anderson hit a single to left to tie the game. Noreen Morrow put the Wolves ahead with a triple, making the score 4-2. Morrow would then score off an infield single by Grace Winters and make the final score 5-2. GTRA scored both of their runs in the fourth inning. Daisy Jordan reached on an error, and Nikki Brown singled to left to put two on for the Knights. Both runners scored off a single to center by Maddy Schany. Jenny Lueders started for Harris-Lake Park, allowing one earned run on three hits before Gunderson came in to pick up another win. She surrendered just two hits over three innings while striking out one and walking none. Alyssa Hoffman took the loss in both contests for the Knights. In game two, she struck out four and walked just two while giving up five runs, all of them earned. HLP improves to 2-3. The Wolves will travel this Saturday to the Newell-Fonda tournament, where they will see Newell Fonda, Maple Valley-Anthon Oto, and Laurens Marathon. GTRA drops to 2-5 and will face Clay Central-Everly Friday evening in Ruthven.
Click here for the postgame interview with HLP head coach Eric Clouse
In the Lakes Conference, Spirit Lake got their first win of the season beating Cherokee 13-3 in five innings. Cara Vale received the complete game win. Kayla Herrig had a pair of hits, one RBI and scored two runs as the Indians improve to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Okoboji won a tight Siouxland Conference matchup with West Lyon, 10-9, Thursday in Milford. The Pioneers have won three straight games to improve to 3-2 on the year, and now 1-1 in league play. They travel to Huxley for a tournament this weekend.
Elsewhere, Estherville-Lincoln Central beat Western Christian, 2-0. Emmetsburg improves to 5-2 as they beat Sioux Central, 7-0. Bishop Garrigan topped Spencer, 6-2. Sibley-Ocheyedan won over Sioux Center by a 6-4 margin, and Prairie Valley downed West Bend-Mallard, 10-9.
