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Three pitches later, she crossed it after hitting a game-winning home run.
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Cotter's Allie Gernes misses a throw as Pine Island's Tina Maley scores a run in the second inning Monday at Bowlin Field in Winona. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
Gernes’ two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday earned the sophomore catcher the game ball and the Cotter High School softball team a 3-1 win over Pine Island.
The victory guaranteed the Ramblers (14-4, 12-0) at least a share of the Hiawatha Valley League title. They can clinch it outright for the third straight year and for the 15th time in the past 16 seasons tonight at Stewartville in their regular-season finale.
“We’ve earned a lot of tough wins,” said Cotter coach Pat Bowlin, whose team is 5-1 in games decided by three runs or less. “We have a lot of things to work on, but we do win close games.”
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Cotter’s Brittany Duellman quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. The left-handed batter, who swings while running out of the box, slapped a grounder to short and beat the throw.
Nicole Kirkvold entered as a pinch runner and promptly stole second base, but Erica Hengel flew out to deep center field for the second out.
Next came Gernes, who was 0-for-3 on the day, including a weak fly to right field and a pop out to first base.
She took the first pitch for a strike, the second for a ball and the third off the scoreboard in left-center field.
“I was thinking, ‘Line drive’ because I popped up a couple earlier in the game,” Gernes said.
“I just wanted to make sure I got on top of it and got an RBI single or something.”
What happened instead offered her some redemption.
In the second inning, Gernes tried to pick a runner off third base, but the throw sailed wide and down the left-field line, allowing a run to score.
The unearned run was one of the few blemishes on the day for Lauren Bowlin, who scattered seven hits and struck out six, but did her best pitching with runners on base.
The freshman allowed at least one base runner in each inning but held the Panthers to an 0-for-8 mark with runners on base and an 0-for-4 mark with runners in scoring position.
The Ramblers were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Hengel, who went 2-for-3, delivered an RBI single to score Chelsea Cierzan from second base in the second inning.
