Blue Devils shut down Broncos

By ROGER JEROME, Sports Correspondent

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Blue Devils used a fourteen strikeout performance from Courtney Anderson and three hits from Alexis Podpeskar to defeat the Falls Broncos 3-0 in a key girls softball matchup Wednesday evening in Virginia.
“We just didn’t hit the ball,” said Bronco coach Kevin Gordon. The Broncos did not get a hit until the third inning, when Kaitlyn Pelowski lined a single down the right field line. Ariel Lagen then sacrificed Pelowski to second base, but the Broncos failed to score. It was the only time in the game that the Broncos had a runner as far as second base.
“We haven’t had live batting practice lately because of the weather,” Gordon said. “We always hit the ball better when we are able to get outside and see live pitching,” he said.
The Blue Devils scored a run in the first inning when center fielder Alexis Podpeskar singled home a run.
Bronco starter Ariel Lagen had two strikeouts in the inning and right fielder Courtney Scholler threw out a runner at first base to take away an apparent single.
Podpeskar then doubled to score another run in the third inning. In the meantime Anderson used a variety of pitches to keep the Broncos off balance. She struck out the side in the fourth inning then made it four in row with another strikeout to open the fifth inning.
“We have been hitting against the pitching machine and you can get into bad habits that way,” Gordon said. The Broncos had three hits in the game, with two coming from Pelowski and one from Scholler. The Falls had a total of four base runners in the game.
Lagen had five strike outs and one walk allowed while giving up five hits. “Ariel pitched a great game they were able to take advantage of some scoring chances,” Gordon said. “Podpeskar is a very good player and she showed it tonight.” he said. Podpeskar finished 3 for 3 with a single, double and triple and had 2 RBIs and a run scored.
“Right now it looks like we will get either the four or five seed in the playoffs,” Gordon said. “The four seed gets us a home game probably against Proctor and if we get five we will probably be going there for out first game,” he said.
Hermantown, Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert appear to have the top three seeds while Esko and Cloquet appear to be the top seeds in the southern sub section. The playoffs begin on Tuesday May 20th.
“This is a tough section and we need to start hitting the ball,” Gordon said. The Broncos must win their first two games to advance to the double elimination portion of the tournament.
The Falls will host Mesabi East at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon and will travel to Wheeler Field in Duluth for a doubleheader with Cloquet and Duluth Denfeld Friday evening.