Cloquet still the team to beat

Cloquet opened the Section 7AAA softball playoffs with lofty expectations after finishing runner-up last year to North Branch, which went on to finish second in Class AAA at the Minnesota State High School softball tournament.

So far the 'Jacks are living up to those expectations, but not without a struggle. The team opened with a tight 3-2 win over eighth seed Hibbing last week but then they upended North Branch 11-2 Saturday. But the frosting on the cake was when the Lumberjacks came from behind Tuesday afternoon to beat Chisago Lakes 3-1 on the road to stay in the winners bracket and gain a spot in the finals.

Tuesday's game was nearly a replay of the loss the team suffered at the hands of the Wildcats earlier in the season. Chisago won that game 1-0. It looked as if it would be more of the same when the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

"We struggled against a very good pitcher," said Cloquet coach Ron Tondryk. "We talked about being disciplined at the plate by not swinging at her riseball. We ended up getting a great hit by Shelby Peil to start things off."

Things started harmlessly enough in the bottom of the fifth inning when Cloquet's No. 9 hitter Peil hit a roller up the middle for a base hit. After Peil's hit, Dana Jones got hit by a pitch and suddenly Cloquet had a runner in scoring position. Brynn Martin promptly lined a shot over the head of the center fielder which scored Peil easily. Right on her heels was the speedy Jones, who beat a throw to the plate. Martin continued to run to third and as the Wildcats tried to gun her down the ball went into the outfield and the quick freshman raced home, giving the 'Jacks a 3-1 lead.

"Brynn had only one hit in the playoffs coming into the game," Tondryk said. "She got a good pitch to swing at and hit it over the center fielder's head. The good thing about our team this year is that everybody contributes and that's all we need to get to the state tournament."

Pitcher Lucy Sinkkonen was incredible on the mound for the 'Jacks, giving up just five hits and striking out 11 Wildcat players to pick up the pitching win and shut down Chisago's offense.

The 7AAA championship game - scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday - will be against Chisago at Chisago Lakes again, as the No. 2 seeded team beat Grand Rapids for another crack at Cloquet.

Cloquet vs. Hibbing

Opening the tournament on Thursday of last week, the Lumberjacks came in as the top seed, but the Hibbing Blue Jackets nearly pulled off a stunning upset when they scored two runs in the sixth inning to tie the game before Cloquet got a run in the bottom of the seventh inning for the win.

Cloquet scored a run in each of the first two innings and then Hibbing knotted the score on a double in the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh the Lumberjacks loaded the bases for senior Jose Steen, who hit a slow roller to third, allowing pinch runner Morgan Van Reese to score the winning run.

"This was a tough win for us because we had just beaten them 12-2 during the regular season," Tondryk said. "We might have let our guard down a bit, but we still managed to get by with a nice win."

Lucy Sinkkonen picked up the pitching win for the 'Jacks by going all seven innings and giving up just four hits while striking out eight Hibbing batters.

Cloquet vs North Branch

Saturday morning the 'Jacks faced off against North Branch and put up three runs in the first inning on their way to an impressive 11-2 trouncing of the Vikings.

Freshman Dana Jones led off with a walk. After Brynn Martin struck out, Kiana Bender was hit by a pitch and then Olivia Diver walked to load the bases. Keagan Anderson followed with a walk to score Jones, then a fly ball by Allie Wojtysiak scored Bender and then Steen walked to load the bases yet again. The 'Jacks wrapped up the first inning with Brenna McClarey walking to score Diver and push the lead to 3-0.

"This was a great win against a very good team," said Tondryk after the game. "We managed two runs in the bottom of the first inning without a hit as we managed to get the ball down."

North Branch gained life in the fourth inning when they cut the lead to 3-2 by virtue of four of their seven hits in the game against Sinkkonen.

Cloquet answered quickly in the bottom of the fifth when they exploded for five runs to go ahead 8-2. Bender led off with a single and Diver followed with a hot grounder to second that was bobbled, allowing Diver to reach first base safely. That was followed by an Anderson walk to load the bases. Wojtyskiak singled to score both Bender and Diver. Steen then lined out and McClarey walked to set up a wild play in which Jones hit a grounder to the pitcher that was misplayed, allowing Jones to reach first and scoring Anderson. The inning wrapped up with Martin lacing a base hit to center to score two more runs to put the game out of reach.

The Lumberjacks topped off their scoring in the bottom of the sixth when McClarey launched a three-run home run that also scored Diver and Steen, who had singled earlier in the inning.

"Brenna's three-run homer was big and sealed the win for us," Tondryk said.

Sinkkonen was stellar on the mound, giving up just seven hits while striking out seven in picking up the victory.

"Lucy has been pitching extremely well for us and we know she will shut down most everyone she faces," said Tondryk. "You have to have good pitching to have a chance and we have three good ones with Lucy, Jose (Steen) and Amanda (Paul). Most teams would die to have two quality pitchers, let alone one."