Milaca notches second at Morris Tournament
Posted 5/4/01

Milaca went 2-1 and placed second in the Morris Area Girls Fast Pitch Softball Tournament Saturday at Morris.

The Wolves blanked Bertha-Hewitt 8-0 and host Morris Area 8-0 in their opening games of the eight-team, single-elimination tournament before losing to Willmar 4-3 in the championship game.

"It was a strong tournament and we played very well," said Milaca Coach Randy Johnson. "The team showed great poise and determination. They supported each other and backed each other up defensively."

In other games last week, Foley tipped Milaca 4-0 in a Rum River Conference game Tuesday, April 24 at Milaca but the Wolves bounced back to stop Sauk Rapids 7-1 in a RRC game Thursday at Milaca. On Friday, touted and state-ranked Big Lake stopped Milaca 9-4 in a non-conference game, also at Milacaís Sod Park.

Milaca, 3-2 in RRC play and 5-4 overall, continues conference play today (Thursday) at Princeton at 5 p.m. The Wolves are at Mora Monday at 4:30 p.m. before hosting Braham in a non-conference game Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Morris Tournament

Milaca 8, Bertha-Hewitt 0

Junior Angela Vedders pitched the first five innings to notch the win as she allowed two hits and no walks while striking out nine. Sophomore righthander Micki Dillon pitched the final two frames, allowing no runs and no walks to complete the shutout.

The Wolves broke the game open with five runs in the third inning. The game ended when Milaca junior second baseman Sara Rhoda tagged a B-H baserunner, then threw the ball to first to retire the batter and complete a double play.

Junior third baseman Rose Keimig cracked an inside-the-park home run and drove in three runs and Rhoda had a double and a single to lead Milacaís offense. Dillon and senior Jodi Rueckert added two singles each and ninth grader Sadie Hemmerich had a triple.

Milaca 8, Morris Area 0

Singles by junior catcher Kacee Biederman, junior first baseman Katie VanHeel and Hemmerich and a pair of Morris errors allowed Milaca to score four runs in the fourth inning. Consecutive singles by junior Joyce Mehrwerth, Keimig, Vedders and Biederman and aggressive baserunning added up to three more Milaca runs in the fifth inning.

Biederman finished with two singles and she and Rhoda each drove in two runs while Dillon drove in three runs.

Vedders allowed just two hits and no walks over the first six innings while Dillon gave up just one walk in the seventh inning as they combined for the win. Vedders struck out five while Dillon fanned three.

Willmar 4, Milaca 3

Trailing 3-1, Milaca used singled by Mehrwerth and Keimig and doubles by Vedders and Biederman to score two runs in the top of the sixth inning and tie the game at 3-3.

Willmar, which defeated Foley and Sebeka to reach the title game, used a single, a sacrifice, a stolen base and another single to score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Mehrwerth went 3-for-4 to lead Milacaís attack while Keimig, Vedders and VanHeel each had one single. Mehrwerth was 5-11 in the tournament.

Vedders pitched the distance, allowing 10 hits and one walk while striking out nine.

Vedders notched 23 strikeouts over 18 innings in the tourney.

The Wolves were missing two starters-junior shortstop Ashley Sikkink and junior center fielder Ali Zimmer-in the tournament. Dillon filled in at shortstop and Hemmerich played center field.

"Our pitching, hitting and fielding came together pretty well in the tournament," said Johnson. "We had a good day."

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Big Lake 9, Milaca 4

The Wolves led 3-2 after five innings before the Hornets erupted for three runs in the top of the sixth inning and four more in the seventh.

Milaca scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 9-4.

Vedders allowed nine hits and four walks while striking out nine over seven innings.

Keimig, Biederman, VanHeel and junior Stacy Fetters each had two hits.

Milaca 7, Sauk Rapids 1

With one out, Milaca used four hits and a pair of Sauk Rapids errors to score five runs in the fifth inning.

Sikkink collected three singles and Keimig had a pair of singles to lead the Wolves. Biederman and Rueckert added one single each.

"We were happy to bounce back after a disappointing loss to Foley," said Johnson.

Against Foley, Keimig and Sikkink had doubles.