Vikes pick up another sweep, busy week ahead
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
Fourteen days after opening the season with a sweep at Whittemore-Prescott, the Viking softball team finally made its home debut with a pair of victories against Rudyard, 8-2 and 16-7.
Sophomore pitchers Lindsay Ponik and LeAnn Strzelecki earned wins for Posen to improve their overall record to 4-0 with a busy week of action on tap. Ponik struck out a career best 10 batters in game one, giving up only three hits and two walks in seven complete innings of work.
The game was still close at 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth when the Vikes blew the game open. Freshman Paige Lewandowski had a two RBI single in the inning. Fellow classmate, Emily Delekta, mashed the ball, hitting two doubles, while junior Cheryl Romel added a double herself.
Posen had five hits in the contest but the made the most of them. STRZELECKI GOT the ball to start game two, giving up six hits, five walks and striking out two during six innings of work. Sophomore Leanne Buczkowski mopped the top of the seventh with a walk and two K’s.
Buczkowski led all hitters with a 3-for-5 game that included 5 RBI. Ponik was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, while Strzelecki was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. Senior Christina Bednarski had five plate appearances in game two and walked each time. “Obviously, we made some mental and physical mistakes that led to some runs for Rudyard, but overall there are two more wins in the book and we’ll go on,” said head coach Glenn Budnick. They’ll start with Alanson at home today and begin league play Monday, again at home, against Au Gres. Tuesday, the girls travel to Oscoda.