Vikings sweep games from St. Ignace and Fairview, still haven?t lost at home since 2003

The Posen softball team (6-0) swept both of the doubleheaders against St. Ignace and Fairview and is preparing for tougher games ahead. The Vikings easily handled Fairview last Thursday in the first North Star League action of the season, 9-1 and 6-0. The girls turned it up a notch against St. Ignace Monday with 13-2 and 11-1 victories. Jenny Ciarkowski and Beth Julian pitched their way to victories in both doubleheaders.

Julian threw a no-hitter in game two against Fairview and struck out 24 in her two outings. “We know the competition is only going to get tougher from here on out,” said coach Glenn Budnick. “It’s been a good start to the season. “We’re not taking anything for granted. We know the competition is going to get better from here on out. We have a lot of tough teams left on our schedule and a lot of ranked teams left.”

ON TAP next week is Au Gres on Monday and Rogers City next Thursday, both at home. The Vikes have not lost at home since the 2003 season. They are 4-0 this season and were 14-0 in 2004. Budnick gave his players the day off with no scheduled games Thursday, although the freshmen and sophomores were to play a JV game against the Rogers City JV on Wednesday.

Julian started the first game of the doubleheader against St. Ignace, struggled a little with eight walks, but still sent 11 batters back to the dugout to put their bats in the bat rack because they couldn’t put the ball in play. She allowed only four hits and one earned run. Budnick said the experience in the game would benefit her later down the road. Courtney Romel led the Vikings at the plate with a two-for-two game and knocked in four, while Julian helped her own cause with a pair of hits and a RBI. Also collecting multiple hits were Mary Calhoun and Katie Lewandowski.

POSEN SCORED five runs in the first inning and five in the second and cruised the rest of way in game two against the Saints. Calhoun had a two-run triple in the first inning, while Amanda Pieczynski cleared the bases with a triple the next inning. She also scored on the play when St. Ignace made a throwing error. Pieczynski was two-for-two with four RBI. Ciarkowski went four innings, allowing two hits and a walk, while striking out four.

Brittany Styma made her varsity pitching debut, after a longer than anticipated rehabil

itation from a torn ACL, but came in and set the side down on strikes. Ciarkowski was two-for-two in the game. Last Thursday, the Vikes opened their season at home with their first NSL action against Fairview and faced their only adversity of the week as the Eagles took an early 1-0 lead against the three-time defending league champs.

It didn’t last long, though, as Posen took the lead in the bottom of the third and never looked back. Ciarkowski earned the win. She gave up five hits and five walks, but struck out three. Romel had three hits and three RBI, while Megan Pieczynski added a two-run double.

Roxann Hincka was four-for-seven in the doubleheader and had three RBI. Amanda Pieczynski was two-for-three with a triple and two RBI in game two, while Mary Calhoun had a double and two RBI.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.