Miners split with Cougars
By KURT MENSCHING, Journal Sports WriterArticle Photos
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Both came away with a better idea of what they’re doing well and what has to be fixed.
And both teams picked up a win.
Negaunee won the opener, 6-3, while taking advantage of several errors by the Cougars early in the game.
Superior Central rallied to take the nightcap, 2-1, in an extra inning.
“We’re trying to finalize positions,” Verbrigghe said. “And we knew Negaunee would be a good team to put the best on the field with and go at them, knowing that they’d come back at us and it would be a good challenge.”
Although the Cougars made a few errors in both games, they only allowed the Miners to score once after the second inning of the first game.
Anderson, on the other hand, wanted to take a look at his pitchers.
Allison Rigling, Brandi Anderson and Charissa Johnson all spent time on the mound.
“I kind of experimented a bit,” Anderson said. “I was kind of rotating pitchers through. We’re just trying to set ourselves up for the district play. We’re trying to see how the pitchers respond.”
Anderson said his team made a few errors and had mental breakdowns.
“That’s the stuff we need to try to eliminate now so that when we get into the districts, hopefully we can have that gone,” he said.
The Miners took a six-run lead just two innings into the first game.
Rigling earned the win, striking out seven in five innings. She allowed all three runs on four hits and five walks.
Superior Central freshman Kasi Swajanen was tagged with the loss. She allowed five hits and had six strikeouts without a walk.
At the plate, she had four hits, including two doubles.
Johnson led the Miners’ attack with a triple, double and single, and two runs.
In the nightcap, Superior Central’s Brierra Ruska scored the game-winning run off a pitch by Johnson that got by the catcher in the eighth inning.
Ruska reached base on a walk and took advantage of a Heather Seppanen single to move to third base.
“The second game, we didn’t start hitting, but then toward the end of the game, we just started to hit more, and people got on base and scored.”
The Cougars also played better defense.
A shortstop, Ruska showed off her fielding and throwing to help keep the Miners off the board. The second baseman, Swajanen made a leaping grab for the final out of the game.
Earlier, the Miners led 1-0 after leadoff batter Rigling tripled and scored on a passed ball in the first inning. The hit was the only allowed by Superior Central pitcher Brittany Maki in eight innings.
She went the distance, striking out 10. She walked one.
“She’s fantastic,” Swajanen said. “She can pitch strikes. She has a whole bunch of different pitches and stuff. She just did excellent today.”
Verbrigghe said the Cougars mostly let Maki, a sophomore, decide what to do on the mound.
“She just knows what to throw and when to throw it, and what she feels comfortable with,” she said.
The Cougars tied the game in the fourth off Johnson when Sheena Richmond singled and later scored on a wild pitch.
Johnson took the loss, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks in five innings.
Pitching in relief in the second game and starting the first, Brandi Anderson did not allow a run in five innings on the mound.
