HIBBING — After many phone calls and some schedule changes, the Rainy River Community College softball team played their final doubleheader of the season on Tuesday afternoon as the team faced off with the Hibbing Community College Cardinals in Hibbing.
RRCC swept the games winning game one 12-1 in five innings and game two 8-6.
“It’s a good way to finish the regular season,” Voyageurs head coach Dieter Humbert said.
The Voyageurs dominated game one setting the pace with seven runs in top of the first inning. RRCC did not let up adding five more runs en route to the 12-1 victory.
Jenn Falk picked up the win on the mound for the Voyageurs going all five innings in the eight-run-rule shortened contest.
Falk carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning and was two outs short of the feat when a double got past a diving Sarah
O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan hurt her hand on the play and the runner came around to score. Falk struck out 10 batters, walked one and gave up no earned runs for her league-leading 15th victory of the season.
Megan Pinette led the team at the plate going 4-for-4 with a triple, a double and batting in two runs. Gina LaBlanc went 3-for-3 with three RBIs while Falk went 2-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run and four RBIs.
Game two of the doubleheader was much closer as the Cardinals batters kept pace with the Voyageurs.
RRCC opened the game with two runs in the top of the first inning and was matched by a pair of Cardinal runs in the bottom of the inning.
The teams traded two-run innings two more times setting up a 6-6 score heading into the seventh.
RRCC was able to add two more runs in the top of the seventh and held the Cardinals off of the board in the bottom of the frame to pick up the 8-6 victory and a series sweep.
Tasha Johnson got the start on the mound and gave up two earned runs on three hits and a walk. Johnson struck out three batters in five innings of work.
“Tasha is a trooper, she has been such a great asset to our team,” Humbert said. “She did a great job, battled hard and gave us five quality innings and put us in a position to win.”
Falk pitched the final two innings of the game and picked up the win giving up no hits and striking out four.
Amanda Clark paced RRCC offensively going 3-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run, a double and two RBIs. LaBlanc went 2-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run while Falk went 2-for-3 with a triple.
With the wins, the team finishes the regular season 15-and-5 including going 12-and-0 in their last 12 games.
RRCC was scheduled to play 28 games this season, but the weather only allowed 20 games to be played. The team will now focus on the Minnesota Community College Conference State Tournament that starts on Saturday in St. Cloud.
“We have to have a couple of real strong practices to get ready for our tournament on Saturday,” Humbert said.
The team will depart for St. Cloud on Friday afternoon and needs to finish ahead of Northland and Itasca in the tournament for a chance to meet regular season champion Central Lakes in the NJCAA National Tournament Qualifier May 9.