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WADENA — Both Wadena-Deer Creek and Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale have been riding hot bats this spring. Both teams are averaging over 9 runs a game and had tallied 4 losses between them this season. Tuesday evening's games gave fans two great shows as the two teams combined for 47 runs and split the two games. BHV took the first game 15-8, while the Wolverines turned the table in the second, winning 15-9.
Game 1
Even though the Raiders came out on the better end of the scoreboard, WDC's Jada Dykhoff was the story of the game. The 8th grader mashed a three-run homer in the second inning and followed that with another dinger off of her brother's windshield outside the right field fence in the sixth inning. Both homers were no doubters as they left the bat and traveled deep into the afternoon sky.
Despite the impressive display of power, it was BHV who was able to put up crooked numbers and rally from a 6-3 second inning deficit to bludgeon their way to a 15-8 victory. The Raiders started the game off with a 3-0 lead after the top of the first, thanks in large part to a three-run dinger off the bat of Carissa Winscher.
The lead was short lived as the Wolverines rallied for 6 runs in the bottom of the second. In addition to the big blow from Jada Dykhoff, Hailey Kircher, Madelyn Gallant, and Montana Carsten all added RBI singles; all of which was followed by the Dykhoff moonshot to right.
BHV showed their batting prowess by scoring 6 of their own right away in the third. The Raiders smacked 4 singles, worked a walk, and had a hit batter. They benefited from a weird play where the Wolverines thought they heard an out call, but an extra runner was able to score as WDC headed back to their fielding positions.
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BHV added another 5 runs in the fourth and a single run in the 6th. As they have done all season, WDC battled and refused to go quietly, adding a run in the 6th on the Dykhoff homer and a single run in the 7th.
Jenna Dykhoff and Hailey Dickey both went 3-for-4 in the game. Jada Dyhoff was 2-for-4 with the 2 homers and 4 RBI, while Madelyn Gallant also added 2 hits and an RBI. Montana Carsten had a hit and an RBI while Dickey had the lone two stolen bases of the game for the Wolverines. Jada Dykhoff took the loss in the circle, going the first 4 innings.
Game 2
WDC seemed to be fueled by the game one loss, as they came out punching right away in the second game. Some of the line drives that they hit at Raider fielders in game 1 found their way to the grass in game 2. WDC batted around in both the first and second innings and raced to a 10-2 lead.
Addie Carr got things going in game 2 when she followed a Jada Dykhoff single with an RBI double. Jenna Dykhoff followed with an RBI single. Two runs scored when the Raider first sacker could not handle a hot smash off the bat of Hailey Kircher to put the Wolverines up 5-0.
After the Raiders scored 2 in the bottom of the first, WDC again batted 9 and scored 5 in the top of the second. WDC got a walk from Carsten and a single from Jada Dykhoff to get things started. With one out, Jenna Dykhoff rifled a single to knock in Carsten. Schulz followed with a two-run double and Jamie Barthel hit an RBI triple to score Schulz. Ella Stroeing completed the scoring in the inning with an RBI single to score Barthel.
WDC stretched the lead to 11-2 after the top of the third thanks to a Jada Dykhoff booming double to the base of the fence in center and a Jenna Dykhoff single. This time it was BHV who would not go quietly. They continued to chip away at the WDC lead, scoring 3 in the 3rd and one in the 5th to close the gap to 11-6.
WDC countered with a big top of the sixth. Jenna Dykhoff led off with her fourth single of the game, followed by a wicked single from Schulz that went hard off the thigh of the BHV pitcher. Barthel picked up an RBI groundout and Stroeing added an RBI double. After Kircher walked, Gallant smashed a single up the middle to knock in 2 more.
BHV scored 2 in the bottom of the seventh but a pair of nice catches by Gallant and Kircher ended the threat and the game to give the Wolverines a 15-9 win.
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"I'm proud of our girls to be able to bounce back in the second game," said Coach Jack after the games.
"We hit a lot of balls hard in the first game, but they seemed to be right at people. Big game for Jada as she got her first two dingers and followed that up in the second game by hitting a double off the fence," she continued.
"Right now we are getting contributions up and down our line-up, it doesn't matter where the girls are hitting in the order, they are contributing."
Jenna Dykhoff added 5 hits in 5 at bats in the second game including a double. Jada Dykhoff and Ella Stroeing each went 3-for-5 and also had doubles. Schulz and Barthel added a pair of hits and Jada Dykhoff, Jenna Dykhoff and Schulz each scored 3 runs. Carsten went 7 innings for the win.
