Eagles down Fairmont

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- With the late arriving spring, the inclement weather and poor field conditions, it was inevitable -- a mad dash to get in as many games as possible before the postseason begins.

Just as inevitable are tired teams with tired players. And most importantly, tired pitchers.

Both the New Ulm High Eagles and the Fairmont Cardinals took advantage of pitching fatigue Thursday. But New Ulm High had a little more offensive energy and picked up a 7-4 South Central Conference softball win at Harman Park.

"As a team, I think we did really well," New Ulm High second baseman Brittany Gorres said. "We were really hitting the ball well."

New Ulm High (13-3, 11-1 SCC) pounded out 11 hits off Katie Petschke (6-7). Gorres went 2-for-4 with three RBI, including a two-RBI double in the first inning that plated the Eagles' first two runs.

"I was pretty excited. I was working on a few things to improve my hitting before this game, leveling out my swing," Gorres said.

Alisha Witt also picked up a pair of hits for the Eagles, going 2-for-3 and scoring a run. Allison Boddy went 3-for-3 with a solo inside-the-park home run in the sixth to lead New Ulm High.

"We've been starting to hit the ball better in the last few games," New Ulm High coach Jim Pearson said. "After tomorrow, we'll have played 10 games in 12 days. That's a lot of ball for these kids. They held up well tonight, and they're doing a fine job."

Fairmont (7-10, 4-6) gave the Eagles some reasons to worry -- namely four of them. And all four runs were unearned off Lauren Hofmeister (12-3), who went the distance, allowing five hits.

"We hit the ball, it was just that a lot of times, we hit it right to them," Fairmont coach Brad Johnson said. "We made contact. We just didn't get them to drop in today."

Fairmont did get five hits off Hofmeister, and the Cardinals did make contact. Hofmeister only struck out one.

Fairmont took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Jackie Koopman walked and later scored on the first of three New Ulm High errors. The Cardinals could have made it a bigger mountain to climb for the Eagles -- they left the bases loaded.

Fairmont then experienced a drought. They flied out, they lined out, they grounded out. After their promising start, the Cardinals got nothing in the second, third and fourth innings.

The fifth was headed for the same result. But back-to-back Eagles errors with two out proved to be costly.

Jodi Johnson, who went 2-for-3, hit a three-run inside-the-park home run to left field to bring Fairmont to within two at 6-4. After Boddy's homer in the bottom half of the inning put New Ulm High up 7-4, the Cardinals almost had something left for the Eagles.

Koopman singled with one out and went to second on a wild pitch, but Hofmeister bore down and her defense got the final two outs on well-hit fly balls by Sarah Unke and Teresa Kloeckner, the Cardinals' Nos. 3 and 4 hitters.

"(Hofmeister) has thrown all but about three innings in the last two weeks," Pearson said. "She's a strong kid and she said she felt good tonight, so we were going with her. ... Fairmont's a very good and improving team. They played a nice ballgame tonight. I give them a lot of credit."

New Ulm High picked up a pair runs in the bottom of the third inning to run the lead to 4-1. Meghan Reedy walked and later scored on a Nikki Williams' ground out, and Boddy singled and scored on Gorres' RBI ground out.

The Eagles put together three hits and the Cardinals' only error in the fourth to up their margin to 6-1.

"New Ulm is a great ballclub," Johnson said. "They pick at you with a couple of runs here and a couple of runs there. That's the way they beat you."

Fairmont is idle until the first round of the Section 2-3A softball tournament when the Cardinals will play at Litchfield at 5 p.m. Monday. New Ulm High will host Jackson County Central at 5 p.m. today.

The New Ulm B-squad beat Fairmont as well, by a score of 10-3.

Jocelyn Janni pitched four innings to earn the victory, conceding two runs on three hits while striking out eight. Kayla Farasyn came in relief for the final two innings, giving up one run on three hits.

Laura Yager, Amy Waldner, Danelle Bode, Ashley Hoffmann, and Farasyn had two hits each.

Fairmont 100 030 0--4 5 1

NUHS 202 201 x--7 11 3

Petchke and Schoener. Hofmeister and Bode. W--Hofmeister 12-3. L--Petchke 6-7. HRs--Fairmont, Johnson; New Ulm High, Boddy.