By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Behind a solid pitching performance by Madison Starry and Malena Mahoney, the Frazee Hornets went 3-0 last week and outscored their opponents 31-3. 

On Thursday Starry pitched a no-hitter and had a perfect game going until she surrendered a walk with one out in the fifth inning against Menahga, before the Hornets swept a double header against Perham on Friday. 

The three wins improve the Hornets to 9-6 overall and 6-4 in the HOL Conference. They have just four games left on their schedule, a home game against Lake Park-Audubon on Thursday and a road game against Parkers Prairie on Friday.

Frazee is scheduled to wrap up its season next Thursday with a double header in Breckenridge. 

Currently the Hornets are in third place in the conference, behind just Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Hawley who are both 9-1.

Thursday

Frazee scored 10 runs on Thursday night, but really they needed just 1, as Starry took a perfect game into the top of the fifth inning. Starry retired the first 13 hitters in order, striking out 11 of the first 12 hitters of the game, as she allowed just 1 walk in a 10-0 win over Menahga on Thursday night.

“It was great to see the ladies play a well rounded game, executing on all phases of the game,” said head coach Matt Bauer. “Madi pitched a great game and was lights out!  Losing the perfect game in the last inning with a walk.”

The lone hitter to reach base came in the top of the fifth inning when Starry walked a batter with one out. The runner was thrown out one batter later to give Starry a no hitter. 

She finished with 11 strike outs and faced just 15 hitters in the game. 

The Hornets got the scoring going in the bottom of the second inning when Faith Hamm and Kate Vigen hit RBI singles to bring Kiley Karger and Annika Reierson around to score. They added 5 more runs in the third inning on a Harley Kropuenske RBI single, Hamm RBI single, Vigen RBI single and Dani Piche RBI single to make the game 7-0 after three innings.

The Hornets jumped out to a 10-0 lead one inning later when Reierson brought home another run on a fielder’s choice and Kropuenske and Vigen added RBI singles of their own.

Vigen led the way offensively with 3 hits and 3 RBIs, while Karger also finished a perfect 3-3 at the plate. Kropuenske and Hamm both finished 2-2 with 2 RBIs.

AB R H BI

D. Piche 4 0 1 0

M. Starry 3 0 0 0

M. Mahoney 1 2 1 0

A. Antonsen 3 1 1 0

K.Karger 3 2 3 0

A. Reierson 2 2 1 1

H. Kropuenske 2 1 2 2

F. Hamm 2 1 2 2

K. Vigen 3 1 3 3

HITTING- 2B- D. Piche

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- M. Starry 5-0-0-0-1-17

Friday

Pitching was once again the key for the Frazee Hornets on Friday night as it helped to lift the Hornets to a pair of important HOL and section wins against Perham. 

The Hornets opened the night with an 8-0 win behind a 5 hit shutout from Mahoney. The Hornets capped off the night with a commanding 13-3 win thanks to another solid performance from Starry who gave up just 5 hits in the win. 

“The ladies played two solid games; playing good defense, hitting, and running the bases,” said Bauer. “Madi and Malena were both dominating in the circle keeping the Perham hitters in check.”

In the opening game of the night, the Hornets sprinkled 8 runs over seven innings and failed to get a runner across the plate in just the third and fifth innings.

In the first inning, Antonsen brought Mahoney around to score on an RBI single to make the game 1-0. Frazee added 2 more runs in the second inning thanks to a 2-run single by Starry and 3 runs in the fourth inning thanks to another RBI single from Starry and a 2-run single from Antonsen. 

Antonsen made the score 7-0 in the sixth inning when she hit a solo home run and the final run crossed the plate in the top of the seventh inning when Piche hit an RBI double. 

Antonsen led the way offensively with 3 hits and 4 RBIs, including a solo home run. Starry finished with 3 hits and 3 RBIs of her own, while Piche went 3-4 with an RBI and a double. 

The Hornets wasted little time in their second game of the day Piche, who led off the game with a double, scored on a Mahoney fielder’s choice. Starry scored just one batter later when Antonsen hit an RBI single of her own.

The Hornets added 5 more runs in the fourth inning and ended the game by the 10-run rule with a 6 run fifth inning when Karger hit a walk off RBI double.

O’Brien led the way offensively for the Hornets as she went 3-4 with 1 RBI, while Starry and Antonsen each had a pair of hits in the win. 

Bauer said he was impressed with the focus of the Hornets on Friday and gave them credit for putting together two solid games against a tough Perham team. 

“I was really impressed with the teams focus and attitude and effort on the day.  Even after having an hour rain delay we came out and looked like we never stopped playing. The energy was still there and they took care of business,” said Bauer. “Two big wins that were a total team effort.”

AB R H BI

D. Piche 4 2 1 0

M. Starry 4 3 2 1

M. Mahoney 3 1 0 2

A. Antonsen 4 1 2 1

M. O’Brien 4 1 3 1

K.Karger 4 0 1 1

A. Reierson 3 1 1 0

F. Hamm 2 2 1 0

K. Vigen 3 2 1 0

HITTING- 2B- D. Piche, K. Karger 

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- M. Starry 5-5-3-2-2-2

AB R H BI

D. Piche 4 1 3 1

M. Starry 5 1 3 3

M. Mahoney 3 1 1 0

A. Antonsen 5 1 3 4

K.Karger 4 0 0 0

A. Reierson 4 0 2 0

H. Kropuenske 2 2 0 0

F. Hamm 4 0 2 0

K. Vigen 3 2 2 0

HITTING- 2B- D. Piche

PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)- M. Mahoney 7-0-0-2-7