Frazee to open playoffs in Swanville

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Frazee Hornets wrapped up their regular season last week with a pair of wins over Pelican Rapids, as well as a tough loss to Menahga and two more close losses to Barnesville to wrap up conference action. 

The Hornets finished the regular season with a record of 5-13 overall and traveled to second seeded Swanville on Monday night to open the Section 6A tournament. The Hornets received the seventh seed.

The winner of the game will take on either third seeded Upsala or sixth seeded Long Prairie-Grey Eagle on Thursday in browerville. The sub section championship game will be on Thursday in Browerville and the section tournament will continue next week in Morris. 

On the other side of the sub section, top seeded Browerville will take on eighth seeded Brandon-Evansville, while fourth seeded Parkers Prairie will take on fifth seeded New York Mills in the opening round. 

Monday

Frazee swept Pelican Rapids on the road on Monday night by scores of 17-9 and 7-6.

In the opening game of the night, the Hornets erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning and eight runs in the fifth inning to blow past the Vikings. The team pumped out 21 hits, including three each by Evie Seim, Hailee Olson, Ashley Malikowski and Rylea Sandberg. Olson finished the game with a single, double and triple, as well as a pair of RBIs. 

Brea Paurus led the way offensively with four hits and three RBIs.

Riyan Eckert picked up the win in the circle as she went 5 1/3 innings in relief and gave up three earned runs and five hits, while striking out six hitters.

In the second game of the night, Frazee came away with a tough 7-6 win as their offense once again found its groove early in the game.

The Hornets led 7-1 after the bottom of the fourth inning when McKenna Wacker smacked a two-run single to bring Trieglaff and Olson across the plate. The two-run single proved to be the difference in the game as Pelican Rapids put together a late charge that included four runs in the top of the fifth inning and a run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 7-6. 

The Vikings had just one out and runners on first and second base, but Eckert was able to get out of the jam and forced a fly out and ground out to end the game by a score of 7-6. 

Wacker had a big game from the plate as she went a perfect 4-4 from the plate and had a pair of RBIs. Trieglaff finished with three hits, while Eckert and Hope Hamm both had a pair of hits.

Eckert picked up her second win of the day in the circle as she gave up 12 hits and four earned runs, while striking out six hitters. 

Tuesday

Frazee ran into a tough Menahga Braves team on Tuesday night and fell by a score of 13-2 in five innings. The Braves scored five runs in both the first and fourth innings, while adding two runs in the second and one more in the third inning to come away with the non-conference win. 

Frazee’s lone runs came in the second inning when Hope Hamm hit an RBI single and Evie Seim hit a sacrifice fly to center field. 

Hailee Olson led the way offensively as she went 2-3 from the plate. 

Riyan Eckert took the loss in the circle as she went four innings and gave up 12 earned runs and 16 hits, while striking out two hitters. 

Thursday

The Hornets dropped a pair of tough games to Barnesville on Thursday night by scores of 7-3 and 4-3. 

In the opening game of the day, the Hornets fell to the Trojans by a score of 4-3 in extra innings.

The Hornets led 3-1 in the third inning when Hailee Olson hit an RBI double in the top of the third inning and Ellie Trieglaff hit an RBI single with two outs. The Hornets had another chance to score in the top of the seventh inning when Evie Seim and Riyan Eckert were on second and third base with two outs, but the Hornets were unable to get the runners across the plate.

Barnesville scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to tie the game at 3-3. They were able to win the game in walk-off fashion in the eighth inning when the opening three hitters of the inning reached base safely, before they connected with an RBI single to come away with the 4-3 win.

Seim, Trieglaff and Rylea Sandberg each picked up a pair of hits in the loss, while Riyan Eckert took the loss in the circle as she was solid with four earned runs and nine hits over seven innings of work.

In the second game of the day, Barnesville jumped out to an early 5-0 after the top of the second inning, before the Hornets struck back with a two out rally in the bottom of the second inning. After the opening two hitters of the inning were retired in order, Sandberg reached on a single and Eckert was hit by a pitch. Brea Paurus followed with an RBI single and the Hornets were able to load up the bases, before the Trojans were able to get out of the jam by giving up just two runs. 

Frazee added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning on an Ashely Malikowski fielder’s choice to make the score 5-3 in favor of Barnesville, but the Hornets were unable to get another run across the plate as they fell by a score of 7-3.

Trieglaff took the loss in the circle as she gave up five earned runs and 10 hits over seven innings of work. 

The Hornets finished Heart O’ Lakes Conference play with a record of 3-9 overall. Hawley and DGF tied for the conference title with a record of 11-1, while Barnesville was in third place with a conference record of 6-5.