Softball
GF Red River 12,
Valley City 1
VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- Grand Forks Red River's season-opening win Tuesday had a little bit of everything: Great pitching performance, timely hitting and some stellar defense.
The Roughriders' bats came alive in the third inning when they strung together four hits in a row to score five runs. Morgan Smith began the hit parade and Kenzie Dorsher collected a two-run single in the inning.
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That offensive production was more than enough for Red River pitcher Emily Lundby, who yielded just the one run while scattering eight hits in the complete-game effort. Lundby also went 3 for 4 from the plate.
Coach Mike Bisenius' defense came up big in the bottom half of the third inning to extinguish a Hi-Liner threat. With one out and the bases loaded, Lundby induced a ground ball that was relayed to catcher Caiti Dahl for the force out. Dahl then pegged a throw to third base to gun down the Valley City runner and usher the Riders out of the inning.
"You always worry about your first time out," said Bisenius, whose team had 13 hits for the game. "But the girls really played well and turned in a nice performance. Valley City hit the ball really hard, but our defense stepped it up and made some huge plays."
Baseball
EGF Sacred Heart 14,
Midway-Minto 3
Getting a combined no-hitter from two pitchers was a great way to start the season in the eyes of East Grand Forks Sacred Heart coach Craig Pietruszewski. It also didn't hurt that his Eagles scored in each of the five innings it batted while playing Midway-Minto on Tuesday at Stauss Park.
Cory Roach and Michael Pietruszewski combined for 10 strikeouts in blanking Midway-Minto. Roach pitched 3Zc innings and collected six of those strikeouts in getting the win.
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Offensively, the Eagles pushed across a run in each of the first two innings before striking for seven runs in the third. A single by Dustin Walski, who went 3 for 3 with three RBIs, was the single that broke the game open.
Caleb Wavra had two doubles and two RBIs and Alex Vanyo scored three times while going 2 for 2 to support the Sacred Heart offense.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Minto, but the field wasn't in shape yet, necessitating the move to Stauss Park.
GF Red River 18-22,
Valley City 0-0
Zach Mahoney and Jakoby Ripplinger both threw five-inning no-hitters to lead Grand Forks Red River past Valley City on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.
Mahoney also went 2-for-2 with two RBIs in Red River's win in the opener. Ripplinger was 2-for-2 in the game and drove in two runs.
Chase Anderson drove in five runs in the second game, while Jordan Lunski, Grant Campbell and Bryce Hill all finished with three hits for the Riders.
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Briefly
• Softball: West Fargo downed Grand Forks Central 17-0 and 28-1 on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams. In the opener, West Fargo's Brittany Rheault pitched a no-hitter. Central received a triple from Haley Bratvold in the second game.
• Softball: Casey Oree belted two home runs to lead Fertile-Beltrami to a 10-7 win against East Grand Forks Sacred Heart on Tuesday in the season opener. Sacred Heart committed six errors. "It was a typical first game," Sacred Heart coach Mike Marek said. "We had a lot of errors." Lindsey Marek knocked in three runs for the Eagles.
• Baseball: West Fargo downed visiting Grand Forks Central 9-2 and 13-3 on Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams. Central's Nick Moe went 1-for-2 with an RBI in the opener for the Knights. He was 1-for-2 in the second game. Central's Kaden Monette went 2-for-3 in the nightcap.
