COHASSET — The top-seeded Carlton Bulldogs broke open a close game Thursday with a two-out, seven-run rally in the sixth inning to eliminate the defending Section 7A champion Littlefork-Big Falls Vikings, 12-4 at Portage Park.
“When you get to this point of the season, seeding doesn’t matter. It’s all about surviving,” Vikings head coach Mike Imhof said prior to the game.
Until the bottom of the sixth, the Vikings were in a position to spring an upset. But a two-out error loaded the bases, and the Bulldogs used seven consecutive hits to score seven runs to end the Vikings’ season.
“All of their hits that inning weren’t hit real hard, but they were just out of our grasp,” said Imhof. “They hit the ball a little to the right or left and maybe we get out of the inning and minimize the damage.”
Both teams went into the game blind as they didn’t know much about the other, but the Vikings put themselves in a hole in the first inning. After leaving two runners aboard and failing to score, the Vikings committed an error in the bottom of the first. A bunt single, a stolen base and error, and two more hits put the Bulldogs up 3-0 after the first.
“This has been our problem all year — errors and mental breakdowns,” said Imhof. “I was happy to see us comeback right away and get back in the game.”
Sam Hams and Liz Wilke-Bobst walked to lead off the second inning, and following a single by Carlie Anderson, Hannah Larson bunted a run across. Kristi Bloom hit a sacrifice fly to right field to close the gap to 3-2. However, the Bulldogs added single runs in the second and third to go ahead 5-2.
After squandering potential rallies in the third and fifth innings, the Vikings closed the gap to one run in the sixth. Bloom drove in a run with a hit and Emily Trappe hit a sacrifice fly. The Vikings left two runners on base when Caitlin Medecke grounded out to end the inning.
“We had a good year, but I had hoped we could have become a better defensive team as the year went on,” said Imhof. “We were right in the game against a No. 1 team until the end. I thought we had the potential to go further.”
The Vikings had six hits, with Anderson leading the team with two. Anderson pitched the entire game until late in the seventh when she gave way to Kristy Horne-Dunn. Anderson had four strikeouts.
“We are going to be a pretty young team next year,” said Imhof. “We will be athletic and have good speed.”
Carlton joins Silver Bay, Nashwauk-Keewatin and Cherry in next week’s Final Four round in Cloquet.
