Vikings start new winning streak with an Alcona sweep

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

After taking their first loss of the season over the weekend, the Posen softball team (9-1, 4-0) got back on the winning track with a sweep against Alcona, 7-6 and 14-1. It didn?t come without a little work. ?We were cruising right along in a 6-1 ball game and had some errors in the last inning on a couple of balls hit that we should have made the plays on,? said head coach Glenn Budnick. ?We have to clean that up if we want to be successful as the season progresses.?

Alcona pushed across five in the bottom of the sixth to force extra innings. The coaches used the international tiebreaker and Abbie Delekta had the game winner with a RBI double to the fence in the top of the seventh. Budnick said starter Anna Couture (5 IN, 6 H, 5 R, ER, 2 W, 2 K?s) deserved to get the win. ?The girl pitched a fantastic game,? he said. Leanne Buczkowski relieved her in the sixth, kept the tie in tact and got the win. She had four strikeouts.

Delekta was 3-for-4, Couture was 2-for-4 (2B), while Ashley Meyers and Janice Ciarkowski had two hits and knocked in runs. Buczkowski (4 IN, 3 H, R, ER, W, 4 K?s) started game two and pitched Posen to another win. Meyers finished the fifth and gave up a hit. Alcona led 1-0 after two, but Posen came back with three in the third, seven in the fourth and four in the fifth.

Lindsay Ponik was 2-for-4 (4 RBI), while Meyers was 3-for-3 (3 RBI, triple). THE VIKINGS came away with a split at the Rogers City Tournament. They defeated Oscoda 9-2 to advance to the championship game before losing to the hosts, 10-1. It ended the Vikings seven-game winning streak. Against Oscoda, the girls gave Buczkowski (7 IN, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, I W, 9 K?s) a comfortable lead early, with three in the first and one in the third. They extended it to 7-0 on a pinch-hit double by Emily Delekta with the bases loaded to score three. Ponik (2B, 3 RBI) was 3-for-4, while Buczkowski was 3-for-3 (2B). Ashley Meyers (2-for-4, 2 RBI) hit a solo homer in the third.

The Vikings couldn?t overcome a rough first inning against Rogers City, as they gave up four runs. ?A poor defensive first inning put us in a hole; however, Lindsay pitched strong in the middle innings to keep us in it,? said Budnick. ?We stranded four runners in scoring position in those innings and that was the story of the game for us.? The Hurons tacked on six runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Ponik?s pit

ching line follows: 6 IN, 6 H, 10 R, 6 ER, 5 W, 3 K?s. Couture and Buczkowski each had two hits. Romel also had a double off the leftfield fence that knocked in a run.

LAST THURSDAY, Ponik pitched a dominant one-hitter in game one of a doubleheader against Hale at home. The scores were 7-2 and 9-4. Ponik struck out 12 in earning her 75th career victory. Meyers (1 IN, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K) went the final inning. The top hitters follow: Ponik 2-for-3 (2B, 3 RBI); Buczkowski, 3-for-4 (2B, RBI); LeAnn Strzelecki 2B, RBI. Game two found the Vikings down 4-3 until a wild fifth inning when the girls brought in six.

Buczkowski got the win in relief. VIKING NOTES: Buczkowski?s first outing of the season, which was Posen?s season-opener, saw her throw a no-hitter against Rudyard. The final score was 10-0. She struck out one and walked one.