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Norse Softball Pulls Upset Before Falling In Finals
 ROSEMOUNT, Minn.---The Bay College Norse softball team pulled a big upset on Monday in the NJCAA Region 13 semifinals before losing in the championship game to Miles Community College (Montana), 13-2, in suburban Minneapolis. The Norse beat Dawson (Mont.) Community College, 11-10, in the semifinals, knocking off the team that had won four straight regional championships and the team that had beat Bay in the 2019 regional championship game. Riley Arndt bunted home Jenna Tardiff with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and then Hannah Edington survived a rocky seventh inning to earn the win. She gave up base hits to the first two batters she faced, but got the next three outs to preserve the win. The Norse scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning when Korey Kaukola walked, Sarah Wynn was safe on an error on a bunt, and Lexi Chaillier doubled to left. The other two runs came home on a Tardiff fly ball. Bay took a 4-0 lead in the third inning as Tardiff singled home Chaillier. Dawson clawed back with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Laci Lesishman doubled in two runs and Ashlynne Copinga singled home the tying run. The Norse came right back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Karlie Patron led off with a single and then Arndt and Bonnie Cortinas drew walks to load the bases. Then Kaukola smacked a ground ball to short that was missplayed and two runs scored, making it 6-4. A Sarah Wynn groundout scored another run, then two Gladstone girls, Taelor Zeise and Tardiff, had back-to-back singles to make it a 9-4 Bay lead. In the fifth inning, Wynn doubled home Kaukola to make it 10-4, but the Lady Bucs were not done. They scored six runs on six consecutive base hits, with Angel Montoya's two-run hit making it 10-9 and Alissa West's hit tying the game at 10. But a flyout and a groundout ended the inning, keeping the game tied up. In the bottom of the inning, Tardiff walked, advanced on a groundout, and scored on Arndt's bunt that the Dawson third baseman couldn't make a play on. After surviving the seventh inning, the Norse had their biggest win in program history, beating the Dawson team that had a 32-11 record and had won four straight regional titles. That set the Norse up against the Miles Pioneers, who shut the Norse out, 8-0, earlier in the tournament. In that game, Kassidy Kinzie shut the Norse out on one hit and she was just as tough in Monday's game. Norse Coach Heidi Charon chose to give the ball to Kaukola, as Patron and Edington had combined to pitch every inning in the sub-region tournament and in the region tournament. It didn't work. Kaukola had a rough outing, giving up a triple to start the inning, followed by a walk and two doubles. Then she hit three straight batters, forcing in two runs. Edington came in to pitch with two out but the damage was done. Miles led, 8-0, after the first inning and the outcome was not in doubt from there. Bay trailed, 11-0, in the third inning when they managed to get on the board when Wynn walked, Chaillier singled, and Zeise doubled in a run. A Tardiff groundout scored Chaillier with the second, and final run, of the Norse season. Autumn Porter was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI for the Pioneers. They improved to 29-13-1 and they will head to Iowa for the District Tournament with a shot at the NJCAA World Series. Bay College ends its season with a 19-29 record and its second straight regional runner-up trophy. Along the playoff trail, the Norse eliminated fellow U.P. opponent Gogebic Community College, knocked out sub-regional champion Dakota County Tech (24-6, three of the losses to Bay), and 2019 regional champion Dawson CC (32-11). |
