softball this week

Tuesday

Varsity Sections

Aitkin vs Rush City 3:00 in Cloquet

       Spring is not usually the time you see new cars coming out, but this spring is a little different. If you have been around the Aitkin area you might have seen a new model zipping down the road. The model is the new 2025 GDM. There is only one and it is driven by Jim Leiviska. This model is red and has eight pistons that fire on all cylinders. He even has names for them, Haley, Ellie, Maddie, Madellyn, Kate, Sam, Audrianna and Abby. Like any good car owner, he has a trunkful of spare parts, and he names them too, Eilee, Gabi, Mia and Kacie along with others. But as we all know the car needs more than pistons and cylinders. It needs a dependable battery, and this car has one of the best. It's not like any other ordinary battery with a positive and a negative terminal. This one has two positive ends, and their names are Sienna and Natalie. This softball battery starts every time and never runs out of juice. One of the pistons, Ellie Hoppe knows why, "I think that Sienna and Natalie work so well together because of their friendship. If they weren't so close as friends, I feel things would go differently. Natalie is very smart on what to call for plays and she is the one who controls the game. Sienna is very committed in what she does and works very hard to be where she is today. I love how if a pitch doesn't go her way she can just shake it off and move on to keep battling. Sienna and Natalie are the ones who really carry our team." The driver of this GDM, Jim Leiviska made a decision this spring and it seems to be a good one, "The best decision I made this spring was to work with them and let them call their own game. It is fun to watch them work together. In fact, out of all the years of coaching baseball and softball, these two might be the smartest, most talented battery I've seen. Their attention to detail and finding hitters weaknesses is amazing." That being said, what does the battery have to say, Natalie, you're up. "Sienna and I have been working together for a few years now, and I think we have trust within each other more than anything. We both have so much love for the sport, so we believe that we grow through each other and our accomplishments for sure. I have been calling games since I was 12 years old so it gives me confidence on the field, and throughout the years, catching has become second nature to me." Sienna, in the circle, also knows the score when it comes to a pitcher-catcher bond, "I think that Natalie and I have such a strong relationship with one another on the field because we can read each other so well and we know that both is us are going to go 100% in for each other. I think it's important for a catcher and a pitcher to have this relationship because it boosts the confidence so much more within the team. Once Nat and I get into a groove, we know it's going to be a good game." This model has some serious torque and can get around the field in a hurry. The pistons control the offensive side and the battery takes care of the defensive side. This model GDM is going to be a very popular one and people will go all out to see it. This is as close to a perfect driving machine as you can get on the market today. That's right the GDM is the Gobbler Driving Machine. See it today at a softball field near you!
 

     Sienna Melz threw a no-hitter at the top seeded Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin Titans Thursday to help the Gobblers advance to the semi-final round of the Section 7AA tournament. Melz walked one and fanned 11 hitters in her second no-hit performance of the season. The Gobblers, who lost to the Titans earlier in the season got three runs in the first and never look back as Melz kept the pressure on from inside the circle. In the first inning Ellie Hoppe walked, Melz singled, Kate Palm singled for a run, Maddie Burgstaler tripled for another and Natalie Stueven singled to make it 3-0. In the third Haley Shereck made it 4-0 with a long homerun. Haley talked about the at-bat, "It was my second time up and I automatically had a good feeling. I hadn't been doing too good in my previous games, so I thought nothing but keeping my head down. When I made contact I just knew it was gone, it didn't really feel like I hit it." A combination of errors and hits by Hoppe and Palm in the sixth led to three more Gobbler runs and Melz finished them off in the seventh by striking two of the final three hitters. Melz talked about her defense, "They were amazing. I knew as soon as we stepped onto the field today we were all going to play our hearts out for each other. There was no individual games going on, it was a "team" game as it should be every time. We were on fire with every single play. We controlled our throws, made the plays that we were given and I kept the energy up. It was awesome, I love this team and I'm so excited for Tuesday."  Shereck also talked about Melz performance, "We are all so proud of her, she always has a level head so when she is so confident it hypes us up and keeps us in the game. We can't win games without a good pitcher and a good defense to back her up." Palm was 2-4, Shereck was 1-2, Hoppe, Madellyn Schneider and Stueven were al 1-3, and Melz and Burgstaler were both 1-4. 

Gobblers 7 8 2

Titans       0 0 4

WP Sienna Melz

LP Ava Johnson

     The Aitkin Gobblers picked up two wins in the Section 7AA softball tournament Wednesday. Their first opponent was C-I and they forfeited that game so Aitkin had to await the winner of the Barnum-Pine City matchup. It turned out to be the Bombers and they proved to be a tough opponent. The game was tight all the way and the deciding runs came in the Gobbler fourth when Maddie Burgstaler singled and rode home when Natalie Stueven blasted a homerun to left putting the Gobblers in front 3-2. The Gobblers led 1-0 after one inning as Ellie Hoppe doubled and came home when Burgstaler was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Bombers took a 2-1 lead in the third and that set up Stuevens heroics in the Gobbler fourth inning. Sienna Melz was brilliant in the circle and recorded the final out of the game on a comebacker to send the Gobblers to the next round unbeaten. Coach Jim Leiviska on her effort, "Sienna was in command and lights out today. The girls played the best defense they have all season. They were communicating, taking charge and going and getting the ball. When Sienna gave them an opportunity to make plays and get outs, they did." What about the offense, "The Barnum pitcher kept us a little off balance but we got big hits when we needed. When Natalie hit one out in batting practice on the JV field, Coach Schwarz and I had a feeling she was going to have a big day. As soon as I heard the crack of the bat from the coaching box at third base in the fourth inning, I knew she had gotten it all. I feel this group of girls are going into the tournament playing their best softball. They are playing for each other the way a team should, and they are having fun doing it. When they are on their game, there is no team they step on the field against that they can't beat."Aitkin had just six hits with Burgstaler and Stueven getting two each while Hoppe and Audrianna Schneider had the others. Aitkin will meet top seed Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin Thursday at noon at Jen Guyer Field in Bovey. 

Barnum  2 5 0

Aitkin       3 6 0

WP Sienna Melz

LP   Alizondra Collelo

Picture on the left are cousins Natalie Stueven and Cole Trotter who both hit homeruns today to lead their teams to victories.

      The Aitkin JH Gobblers traveled to Mora Monday for the GRC JH Jamboree and came away with three wins without a loss. In game one the Gobblers beat Rush City 6-0. Grace Hoppe and Michaela Roettger pitched in the opener. Roettger and Adalyn Samuelson both went 2-2. The second game saw Aitkin beat Pine City 8-6. Samuelson struck out 7 and Elsie Kyllonen followed her to the circle. Charlotte Lundgren and Natalie Shereck each had a single and a double, Roettger and Samuelson each had a triple, Macey Ryan, Grace Hoppe and Kyllonen each had 2 doubles, all going 2-2 in this game. The third game had the Gobblers shutting out Mora 3-0. Lundgren stepped in, the first hitter of the game and belted an inside the park homerun. Also coming up with a big hit was Roettger who added a triple. Samuelson had a double to add to the offense. Coach Lena Broeckel on the day, "These ladies played great today and pulled out three more wins. I could not be more proud of all their hard work and determination on and off the field. Our last game was called due to lightning."

        The Aitkin Gobblers enter Section play Wednesday at home against the C-I Rangers at noon after a season that produced some outstanding statistics from their offense. Here's a look at the top three in several categories. They are impressive.

(OBP is on-base percentage, OPS is on-base+slugging percentage)

OBP-Haley Shereck .642, Maddie Burgstaler .569, Samanatha Edwards .558

OPS-Haley 1.674, Maddie 1.453, Samantha 1.451

SLG-Haley 1.032, Sam .894, Maddie .883

HITS-Haley 38, Maddie 32, Samantha 24

DBS-Maddie 12, Haley 9, Kate 8

TPL-Haley 7, Maddie 3, Sam 3 Sienna 3

HR-Natalie Stueven 3, Sam 2, Kate 2, Haley 1, Maddie 1

RBI-Kate 27, Haley 25, Maddie 23

RUNS-Haley 36, Ellie Hoppe 23, Maddie 21, Samantha 21

BB-Ellie 12, Kate 9, Sienna 7

HBP-Sienna 8

SB-Haley 18-18, Samantha 17-20, Ellie 14-14

Pitching-Sienna 86 2/3 innings, ERA-5.42, BB-24, SO-112, WP-8

       The second game Wednesday is at 2pm between Barnum and Pine City. The two losers Wednesday are out, and the winners will play at 4pm. The next round will be Thursday.

     The Aitkin Gobblers ended the regular season with a 13-6 record after beating Crosby-Ironton 19-2 at home Wednesday on Senior Day. Aitkin scored ten in the first and nine more in the third to run away with the win. The Rangers actually led 2-0 before the explosion by the Gobblers in the bottom half of the inning. The inning started with three walks, one an intentional pass to Gobbler senior Abby Palm who was then pinch-run for. Kate Palm doubled, clearing the bases, Maddie Burgstaler walked, Natalie Stueven was hit by a pitch, Madellyn Schneider singled for two runs, Mia Koonce walked, Sam Edwards blasted a three-run inside the park homerun, Ellie Hoppe singled, Haley Shereck doubled for a run and then scored on a wild pitch to close out the inning. The nine-run third started with a Hoppe walk followed by a single by Shereck and a sacrifice fly by Palm. Burgstaler walked, Stueven walked, a wild pitch scored a run, Schneider doubled for a run, a groundout by Koonce scored another, Eilee Aho walked, Edwards doubled for a run, Hoppe singled, and Shereck and Burgstaler both singled for a run. Edwards was 3-3 with three runs scored and four runs batted in, Palm was 1-2 with a run scored and four runs batted in, Schneider was 2-3 with a run and 3 knocked in, Shereck was 3-3 with four runs scored and two runs batted in. Burgstaler and Koonce both had one run batted in. Koonce pitched the first 3 2/3 to get the win while walking just one and striking out 5. Gabi Price got the final out with a strikeout. The Gobblers celebrated their four seniors, Abby Palm, Mia Koonce, Ellie Hoppe and Madellyn Schneider.

Rangers     2  3 0

Gobblers  19 12 0

WP Mia Koonce

LP O. Harshman

      The Aitkin Gobbler softball season is winding down. Here's what's left of the season.

Tuesday, May 20 Sections

Thursday, May 22 Sections

Tuesday, May 27  Sections

Thursday, May 29 Sections