(Griswold, IA) – The postseason run stays alive for the Griswold Tigers after they were able to capture a 6-0 victory over St. Albert on Wednesday evening. The Saintes had multiple chances to earn some runs on the board, but the Tiger defense was able to hold up and take the victory.
In the top of the first inning, St. Albert had a three-up-three-down inning with two groundouts and a flyout to jump to the bottom of the first. Griswold’s Marissa Askeland earned a walk and reached first while Abby Gohlinghorst hit a ball on the ground that was thrown to first and bounced out of the glove of Alexis Narmi to put runners on first in second with no outs. Dakota Reynolds then went up to the plate to hit a grounder and score Askeland to take the 1-0 advantage.
Both teams would have three-up-three-down second innings including three straight strikeouts for Griswold’s Karly Millikan to lead to the third. The Saintes gained some momentum off the single by Oliver Gardner and the hit by McKayla Markel to reach first on an error to put two on with no outs. The Tiger defense was able to retire the side with a 5-3 groundout, a strikeout, and a flyout to center to keep the Saintes scoreless. St. Albert’s Ella Narmi then pitched another three-up-three-down inning to jump into the top of the fourth.
Griswold pitcher Karly Millikan would go on to force two groundouts and pick up another strikeout to go into the bottom of the fourth. Dakota Reynolds would cap off the inning with a single that was followed by a flyout from Millikan to bring up Whitney Pennock. The catcher would hit to second base and force another error to put two runners on with no outs. Griswold’s Addison Adams would go on to hit a home run over the left field wall to score three runs and give the Tigers an even greater advantage to mark her first home run of the year.
In the fifth inning, Millikan earned a strikeout and forced two groundouts to jump into the bottom of the fifth where, despite an error in the outfield, the Tigers would leave Askeland stranded to lead into the sixth inning. After a flyout and a groundout for St. Albert in the top of the sixth, Tessa Clifton started to get the gears rolling until a flyout from Alexis Narmi ended the top of the sixth. Griswold would go on to seal the deal in the bottom of the sixth after Karly Millikan earned a single to start the inning which was followed by Whitney Pennock reaching on a throwing error that would lead Millikan to score and put Pennock on third. After back-to-back outs, Josie Reynolds would earn an RBI after hitting a single to score Pennock and give Griswold the 6-0 advantage going into the top of the seventh.
After just one out, Kylie Wesack would earn a single to put a runner on which was followed up by a walk from Ella Narmi to put two on first and second. Olivia Gardner would hit a short roller toward Millikan that she picked up and held for a fielder’s choice to put the bases loaded with one out. Millikan would go on to strikeout both McKayla Markel and Madison Walter to earn the win and help Griswold advance to the next round of regional action.
The Tigers were put into multiple tough defensive situations on Wednesday night. Griswold was put into three innings where they had Saintes on the bases and didn’t allow a single run to cross home plate all night.
Those defensive plays were set by pitcher Karly Millikan who earned eight strikeouts and had four three-up-three-down innings on the night while allowing just one walk on three hits.
Of course, to have a successful pitcher, you also need to have a successful catcher after Whitney Pennock was dominant behind the plate and was part of two of the six runs to cross home offensively.
After Wednesday night’s victory, the Tigers will face off against Essex this Friday, July 12th. The Tigers have previously beaten Essex twice throughout the regular season, but Head Coach Jody Rossell is going into every game playing their best.
St. Albert finishes off with a 13-16 overall record while Griswold improves to 25-4 to move on to semifinal action against Essex this Friday.
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