An offensive explosion kept the Park Rapids fastpitch softball team undefeated on the season.
The Panthers capitalized on 33 hits (including four home runs), 29 walks and 15 errors to score 41 runs to capture the title at last Saturday’s Park Rapids Invitational at Olson Fields.
Park Rapids opened with a 10-0 five-inning victory over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley and used a 15-hit attack to spark a 14-1 six-inning victory over Pine River-Backus in the semifinals. The Panthers used a late rally to defeat Norman County 17-7 in the championship game to improve to 6-0 on the season.
In the championship bracket, PR-B defeated Bagley 9-2, Sebeka defeated Lake of the Woods 14-3 and Norman County edged Nevis 7-6. Norman County advanced to the title game with a 15-11 win over Sebeka. Sebeka edged PR-B 3-1 for third place.
In the consolation bracket, W-H-A defeated Bagley 17-13 and Nevis edged Lake of the Woods 9-8. W-H-A topped Nevis 8-7 for fifth place while LOW defeated Bagley 20-7 for seventh place.
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Panthers shut out Wolves
A nine-run first inning helped the Panthers open tournament play with an easy win.
Nine walks, bunt singles by Sarena Kinkel and Nikki Eischens, and a three-run home run by Tara Johanning gave the Panthers an early 9-0 lead.
Kinkel walked and scored on an error in the third to conclude the scoring.
Macky Warne threw a five-hitter for the win. Park Rapids managed only four hits, but took advantage of 13 walks.
W-H-A 000 00…0 5 3
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Park Rapids 901 0x…10 4 1
Player AB R H RBI
Johnson 2 1 1 0
Kinkel 1 3 1 0
Waggoner 0 0 0 0
Jerger 0 1 0 0
Anderson 2 0 0 0
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Eischens 3 1 1 1
Warne 1 1 0 0
Bynum 1 1 0 0
Johanning 2 1 1 3
Hinkley-Smith 0 1 0 0
Hensel 1 0 0 0
Brumbaugh 1 0 0 0
Totals 14 10 4 4
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Anderson and Berg; Warne (5IP, 0R, 5H, 3BB, 6K) and Johanning. W-Warne, 2-0. L-Anderson. HR: Johanning 1. SB: Johnson 1, Kinkel 1, Waggoner 1, Jerger 1.
Jerger tosses no-hitter at PR-B
Brooke Jerger threw a no-hitter and was backed by a 15-hit attack as the Panthers routed PR-B.
The Panthers held a 1-0 lead before scoring four times in the fourth, three times in the fifth and six times in the sixth to end this game early via the 10-run rule.
A single by Jerger, a bunt single by Eischens and Sydney Bynum’s home run gave the Panthers 5-0 lead in the fourth.
Singles by Kendra Anderson, Eischens and Bynum sparked the three-run fifth for an 8-1 lead before singles by Kinkel, Lindsey Girtz and Eischens and home runs by Jerger and Lexi Hinkley-Smith sparked the six-run sixth.
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Jerger walked six and struck out eight for the win and went 2 for 4 with three runs and three RBI. Eischens went 4 for 4 with three runs and Bynum went 2 for 4 with three RBI to pace the offense.
Park Rapids 100 436 …14 15 3
PR-B 000 100 …1 0 8
Player AB R H RBI
Kinkel 5 2 1 0
Johnson 4 1 1 0
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Waggoner 3 0 0 0
Girtz 1 1 1 1
Jerger 4 3 2 3
Anderson 2 0 1 1
Hinkley-Smith 1 3 1 1
Eischens 4 3 4 1
Warne 3 0 1 1
Brumbaugh 0 0 0 0
Bynum 4 1 2 3
Johanning 3 0 1 0
Hensel 1 0 0 0
Totals 35 14 15 11
Jerger (6IP, 1R, 0ER, 0H, 6BB, 8K) and Johanning; Hanson and Semmler. W-Jerger, 3-0. L-Hanson. 2B: Johnson 1. HR: Hinkley-Smith 1, Jerger 1, Bynum 1. SB: Hinkley-Smith 1, Kinkel 1, Jerger 1, Eischens 2, Warne 1, Bynum 1, Girtz 1.
Panthers rally to win title
Norman County held a 3-2 lead before the Panthers rallied by scoring 15 runs in the final three innings.
Bynum singled and scored in the second as the Panthers tied the game at 1-1 and Jerger tripled and scored in the fourth as the Panthers tied the game at 2-2.
Norman County took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth before Park Rapids scored four times in the fifth to take the lead for good. A bunt single by Johnson and singles by Eischens, Jerger and Bynum gave the Panthers a 6-3 lead.
Singles by Johanning, Warne, Hinkley-Smith and Hannah Hensel and doubles by Johnson and Carly Waggoner led to six more runs in the sixth for a 12-3 advantage.
The Panthers added five runs in the seventh on seven walks.
Warne picked up the win in relief while Johanning led the 14-hit attack by going 3 for 4. Johnson, Jerger, Bynum and Warne had two hits each while Waggoner drove in three runs. Hinkley-Smith, Eischens, Warne and Hensel had two RBI apiece.
Park Rapids 010 146 5…17 14 5
Norman Co. 101 101 3…7 8 4
Player AB R H RBI
Kinkel 4 1 0 0
Johnson 5 3 2 1
Eischens 3 3 1 2
Jerger 3 4 2 0
Waggoner 3 1 1 3
Girtz 0 1 0 0
Bynum 2 1 2 0
Brumbaugh 0 1 0 0
Warne 4 1 2 2
Hensel 1 1 0 2
Anderson 2 0 0 0
Hinkley-Smith 1 0 1 2
Johanning 4 0 3 1
Totals 32 17 14 13
Jerger (3IP, 2R, 1ER, 2H, 5BB, 4K), Warne (4IP, 5R, 3ER, 6H, 2BB, 2K) and Johanning, Hinkley-Smith (7); Kroshus, Tufte (6) and Johnson. W-Warne, 3-0. L-Kroshus. 2B: Johnson 1, Waggoner 1, Warne 1. 3B: Jerger 1. SB: Hinkley-Smith 1, Johnson 3, Eischens 2, Jerger 1, Bynum 1, Girtz 1.
Panthers shut down Vikings
Waggoner drove in three runs while Jerger and Warne combined on a three-hitter in leading the Panthers to a 10-1 win at Pelican Rapids last Thursday.
A single by Johnson and RBI doubles by Waggoner and Bynum gave the Panthers a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Johnson tripled and scored in the fourth while a triple by Jerger and a single by Waggoner led to two more runs in the fifth for a 7-0 lead.
Johnson singled and scored in the sixth before Warne and Bynum scored the final two runs in the seventh.
Jerger struck out nine over the first five innings for the win. Johnson went 3 for 4 with three runs while Waggoner and Bynum had two hits each to pace the Panthers’ eight-hit attack.
Park Rapids 400 121 2…10 8 3
Pel. Rapids 000 001 0…1 3 7
Player AB R H RBI
Johnson 4 3 3 0
Eischens 3 0 0 2
Anderson 2 0 0 0
Hinkley-Smith 1 1 0 0
Jerger 4 2 1 0
Waggoner 4 2 2 3
Warne 3 1 0 0
Bynum 4 1 2 1
Johanning 2 0 0 1
Girtz 4 0 0 0
Totals 31 10 8 7
Jerger (5IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 9K), Warne (2IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 1BB, 1K) and Johanning, Hinkley-Smith (7); Shermaton and Konywia. W-Jerger, 2-0. L-Shermaton. 2B: Waggoner 1, Bynum 1. 3B: Johnson 1, Jerger 1. SB: Hinkley-Smith 1, Warne 1, Bynum 1.
