Lumberjacks return from state with hardware

When practice started in March in the Cloquet Middle School gymnasium, the Cloquet girls softball team had high hopes. Returning eight starters from last year's section runner-up team, the coaching staff and players felt they had a chance to make something magical happen.

The Lumberjacks did not disappoint, as they won the section tournament and marched on to take third place in the Class AAA state tournament while nearly knocking off the tournament's top-ranked team for a chance to play in the championship game last week.

The Lumberjacks opened the tournament as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seeded Benilde-St. Margaret's. The Cloquet players quickly showed they were going to be a force in the tourney by bouncing the Red Knights out of the tournament by a score of 10-0 in just five innings of work.

Lucy Sinkkonen pitched a complete game and handled the Red Knights normally strong-hitting lineup by giving up just four hits in five innings while striking out nine and walking two.

After getting out of the top of the first inning without giving up a run, the Lumberjacks went to work with the bats using their speed to score three runs and to take a 3-0 lead. Dana Jones dropped down a bunt and beat it out. Brynn Martin followed with another bunt. Following Martin it was Kiana Bender, who laced a shot to second that was mishandled by the infielder allowing the 'Jacks to load the bases. After a strikeout, Keagan Anderson singled to right field, scoring both Jones and Martin and pushing Bender to third. Bender then scored on a flyout by Allie Wojtysiak.

"It was big for us to get a good start to the tournament," said Cloquet coach Ron Tondryk. "We have those three lefties at the top of the lineup and a lot of teams can't handle all that speed and that seemed to rattle Benilde."

It was more of the same in the second when Jones and Martin both singled with two outs, followed by another infield hit by Bender which loaded the bases for Olivia Diver. The senior then walked, which allowed Jones to score. Then it was Anderson muscling up on a ball that she drove into the hole between first and second, scoring both Martin and Bender. Finally a single by Wojtysiak scored Diver - pushing the Cloquet lead to 7-0 after two innings.

Cloquet tacked on a single run in the third inning when Jones singled and stole second, her third stolen base of the game, and then came home on a Martin base hit. The Lumberjacks ended the game in the bottom of the fifth inning by scoring a pair of runs by Brenna McClarey and Martin to end the game 10-0 in just five innings.

In Game 2 the 'Jacks faced off against No. 1 seed Mankato West, which came into the tournament with a 22-1 record, their only loss to the team which eventually won the Class AAAA tournament, Maple Grove.

"We knew we'd have our hands full, but our girls were confident we could play with them," Tondryk said. "It was quite a game for a long time before they pulled away to the win."

Jones again jump-started the 'Jacks on offense in the top of the first inning when she singled, was bunted to second by Martin and eventually scored on a ground-to-short by Anderson, giving Cloquet a 1-0 lead. However, Mankato came out in the bottom of the first and tied things up on a solo home run. The Lumberjacks responded quickly in the top of the second when they went ahead 2-1 on a McClarey base hit, and after a sacrifice bunt by Shelby Peil, McClarey scored on a Jones double.

"We felt good at that point that we could stay with them," recalled Tondryk. "They tied it in the bottom of the third on another home run, but we were tied with them at 2-2 going into the fifth inning."

The fifth and sixth innings proved to be pivotal for both teams as Cloquet loaded the bases with nobody out on a Bender base-hit, an Olivia Diver walk and an Anderson hit. Unfortunately the 'Jacks rally stalled when Wojtysiak grounded out, allowing the infield to throw Bender out at the plate for the first out. Then it was an infield pop-up by Cloquet's Amanda Paul for the second out and finally McClarey was called out on strikes for the third out.

"That was really tough for us," explained Tondryk. "A hit there, and all of a sudden we could have broken the game open, but it just didn't work out for us."

In the bottom of the fifth, Mankato scored an unearned run after the lead-off batter reached on an error and ultimately scored on a two-out single.

The bottom fell out for Cloquet in the sixth inning when Mankato ended the game by scoring nine runs on six hits and four 'Jacks errors.

"That is so unlike this group," Tondryk said of the errors. "We just don't make a lot of errors and it cost us, but that is ball and Mankato took advantage of our mistakes."

With their dreams of playing for a state title crushed, the Lumberjacks headed back to their hotel and had to wait till Friday morning to take the field to play for the third-place trophy.

"I have to say that was a tough time for the girls," said Tondryk. "They were pretty upset and took that hard. Each of them had to deal with it in their own way, but we didn't get back to the hotel till late and then had to order them pizza, get them fed and then hoped they could get a good night's sleep to come back and play for a third-place trophy on Friday morning."

Playing against Becker, the Lumberjacks fell behind in the top of the second inning when the Bulldogs bashed a home run for a 1-0 lead. Cloquet answered with a single run in the bottom of the third when Peil walked and eventually beat a throw to the plate on a base hit by Bender.

In the bottom of the fourth the Lumberjacks took a 2-1 lead when Grace Dushkin walked and was lifted for pinch runner Jordyn Sorenson, who eventually scored on a close play at the plate on a single by Jones.

That insurance run gave Cloquet a 3-1 lead and seemed to light a fire as they came out in the fifth and added three runs plus five more in the sixth inning.

In the fifth it was Bender leading off with a double and scoring on an Anderson base hit. Anderson was lifted for a pinch runner, Brea Rassmussen moved to third on a double by Wojtysiak and then McClarey followed with a double of her own which scored both Rassmussen and Wojtysiak. Morgan Van Reese then became a courtesy runner for the catcher McClarey and eventually scored on a passed ball as Cloquet built a 6-1 lead.

Cloquet ended the game in the bottom of the sixth inning by the 10-run mercy rule when they added five more runs. Justice Paro led off the inning with a walk and both Diver and Anderson were hit by pitches to load the bases. Paro then scored on a passed ball and Wojtysiak singled to score Diver. Josie Steen followed with a base hit to score Anderson and then McClarey singled again to score Wojtysiak. After a strikeout Dana Jones added her fourth hit of the game which scored courtesy runner Sorenson for the final run of the game as Cloquet won 11-1.

"What a great way to end the tournament," Tondryk said. "We were able to get every single player on our roster into the state tournament and that was one of our goals going in. We just wanted every one of the kids to find out what it was like to get on the field at the state tournament and we were able to accomplish that."

Cloquet finished the season with a 21-5 record.