Spirit Lake’s perfect softball season came to an end Thursday night at the hands of a familiar foe, as Emmetsburg dealt the Indians their first loss with a 6-1 decision. The E-Hawks led 3-0 for most of the game until Faith Schmidt crushed a three-run homer to left-center in the top of the 7th to make it 6-0. Spirit Lake would load the bases in the bottom half with no outs, but only scored one run. Schmidt finished the game 2-for-3 with five RBI and was also the winning pitcher, limiting the Indians to three hits while striking out six. Cara Vale took the loss despite surrendering just four hits and one earned run. Spirit Lake committed three errors in the game. Paige Krause score the lone run on an RBI ground out by Briana Brunsvold. The Indians fall to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Lakes Conference. Emmetsburg improves to 4-1 on the year and 2-0 in the league. They return home to battle Sioux Central, a game that will air live on Y100 and at ExploreOkoboji.com.
Okoboji’s five-game winning streak was snapped in one of its most haunted venues. The Pioneers fell 6-2 at West Lyon in a Siouxland Conference game. The setback puts Okoboji at 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the league. They open play at the Ballard Tournament today.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn opened the flood gates early in a non-conference blowout of Pocahontas that ended 13-1 in three innings. The Hawks are now 2-2 overall.
Elsewhere Thursday, Spencer dropped a close 2-1 game with Algona Bishop Garrigan.
