By Chad Koenen

Publisher

New York Mills won five straight games and for the eighth time in their past nine games last week. The highlight of the week was a pair of Park Region Conference double header sweeps against Pillager on Tuesday and Otter Tail Central on Thursday. The Eagles outscored the Huskies and Bulldogs by a combined 49-15 margin.

On Friday the Eagles defeated Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal by a narrow 7-6 margin.

NY Mills is now 11-4 overall and 10-2 in the conference. Parkers Prairie is currently 7-3 in the conference and Sebeka is 6-4. 

This week the Eagles, who are ranked seventh in the QRF, will host Park Rapids Area on Tuesday, before traveling to Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale on Friday for a double header. 

Tuesday

Kailey Keskitalo and Aliya Gerber dominated the Pillager Huskies on the mound in a two game sweep over Pillager on Tuesday night. 

All-but 2 of the Huskies’ combined 6 runs came in just one inning as they defeated Pillager 10-6 in 10 innings and 10-0.

In the first game of the night, the Eagles took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning before NY Mills gave up 4 runs off of 3 errors and just 1 walk as the Huskies tied the game up at 5-5. The Eagles were able to get out of the inning without any further damage as Pillager ended the inning with a runner on third base. One inning later, Moriah Geiser gave the Eagles a 6-5 lead when she hit an RBI double to make the score 6-5.

The Huskies were able to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to send the game into the ninth inning. The game remained at 6-6 until the top of the seventh inning when NY Mills scored 4 runs to give them a 10-6 lead. They would go on to win by that same score. 

In the second game of the night, Gerber gave up just 4 hits as the Eagles came away with a 10-0 win in five innings. 

The Eagles scored 4 in the first and second inning and 1 each in the third and fourth innings to end the game by the 10-run rule.

AB R H BI

Aliya Gerber 6 2 2 1

Angie Weller 6 0 1 0

Grace Christenson 4 2 1 0

Moriah Geiser 5 2 3 1

Ayla Olson 4 0 0 0

Mackenzie Gilster 5 1 1 1

Anna Meech 5 0 0 0

Megan Riedel 5 3 3 0

Kali Olson 5 0 2 1

HITTING- 2B- Moriah Geiser, Megan Riedel

AB R H BI

Aliya Gerber 3 3 2 0

Angie Weller 3 2 1 0

Grace Christenson 1 2 1 1

Moriah Geiser 3 1 1 2

Megan Riedel 3 1 1 1

Mackenzie Gilster 3 1 3 0

Anna Meech 2 0 0 0

Ariel Arno 3 0 1 1

Ayla Olson 3 0 1 0

Thursday

NY Mills scored runs in bunches on Thursday night as they defeated Otter Tail Central by scores of 15-5 and 14-4. 

In the first game the Eagles scored 6 runs in the bottom of the third inning, which was highlighted by an Angie Weller RBI fielder’s choice, a Grace Christenson RBI single and a 3-run home run off the bat of Chloe Koljonen. They added 7 more runs in the fourth inning off a 2-run home from by Moriah Geiser and an RBI single by Kailey Keskitalo and an RBI sacrifice by Aliya Gerber. 

The game came to a close in the sixth inning when Megan Reidel hit an RBI single to end the game by the 10-run rule.

In the second game the Eagles jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead, only to see the Bulldogs do just enough to stay away from being defeated by the 10-run rule for the second straight game. The Eagles scored 3 runs in the first inning and added 7 more in the second inning, before OTC scored 2 runs in both the third and fourth innings to trail 11-4 heading into the top of the fifth inning. 

The Eagles made the score 13-4 in the fifth inning and added a late insurance run in the top of the seventh inning to come away with the 14-4 win.

AB R H BI

Aliya Gerber 5 1 1 1

Angie Weller 5 3 3 0

Grace Christenson 3 4 2 0

Moriah Geiser 5 2 0 0

Megan Riedel 5 1 2 1

Anna Meech 4 1 0 0

Annika Dunrud 4 1 2 0

Kali Olson 1 1 0 1

Ayla Olson 4 0 1 0

HITTING- 2B- Aliya Gerber, Grace Christenson, Angie Weller 2

AB R H BI

Aliya Gerber 4 2 3 1

Angie Weller 5 2 1 2

Grace Christenson 5 1 3 1

Moriah Geiser 5 3 3 2

Megan Riedel 5 1 2 0

Chloe Koljonen 3 2 1 3

Mackenzie Gilster 1 0 0 0

Anna Meech 4 1 2 0

Kailey Keskitalo 4 1 2 1

HITTING- 2B- Aliya Gerber, Angie Weller, Grace Christenson; HR- Moriah Geiser, Chloe Koljonen

Friday

With the Eagles trailing 6-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, Moriah Geiser gave NY Mills a bit of life as she led off the inning with a triple. Megan Reidel followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to tie NY Mills’ game against Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal up at 6-6. 

Anna Meech followed with a single and later stole second base. She scored a run later in the inning to give the Eagles a 7-6 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning. 

The Titans were able to get the tying run into scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, but the Eagles’ defense held suit as they went on to win their fifth game of the week by a score of 7-6.

The Eagles did most of their damage in the bottom of the first inning when Grace Christenson hit a 2-run home run and Chloe Koljonen hit a 2-run single. 

In the third inning Aliya Gerber gave the Eagles a 5-2 lead when she hit a two out RBI single to bring Annika Dunrud across the plate. 

The Titans took the lead after scoring 2 runs in the fourth and 2 more runs in the fifth inning.

Christenson led the way offensively with 2 hits and a pair of RBIs, while Geiser also finished 2-3 from the plate with an RBI. 

AB R H BI

Aliya Gerber 5 0 1 1

Angie Weller 4 1 0 0

Grace Christenson 4 1 2 2

Moriah Geiser 3 2 2 0

Megan Riedel 2 0 0 1

Anna Meech 2 2 1 0

Annika Dunrud 3 1 1 0

Chloe Koljonen 3 0 1 0

Kali Olson 4 0 1 0

HITTING- 3B- Moriah Geiser; HR- Grace Christenson