FRAZEE – After a delayed start to the Perham softball team’s 2023 campaign, the Yellowjackets finally hit the diamond in a doubleheader against Heart of Lakes Conference rival Frazee.
The Hornets run ruled Perham in a 14-4 routing in Game 1. The Yellowjackets started off hot in Game 2 but were defeated 10-8 in a tightly contested five innings.
"It's always a battle with Frazee,” Perham head coach Jason Groth said. “Coach Tavia Bachmann does an excellent job with the Hornets. Overall, I was happy with our effort and our aggressiveness on offense. I thought we really put the pressure on the Hornets’ defense and as a team, I thought we had a lot of good at-bats.”
Perham jumped ahead with two runs in the first inning of Game 1. Frazee answered with one run in the bottom half of the first. The Yellowjackets tacked on two more runs in the second. Avery McAllister stole her way to second and touched home off a two-out single by Ava Bladow. Morgan Burkman added one more run on an RBI single to bring in Bladow and extend Perham’s lead to 4-1 after two.
Frazee brought the bats in the bottom of the third, scoring seven runs and taking control of the lead at 8-4. The Hornets drove in three runs in the fourth and three runs in the sixth to win the game by run rule.
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Burkmann was the losing pitcher in Game 1. She pitched six innings and struck out four. McAllister and Burkmann each had two hits.
After shaking off the rust in Game 1, Perham found its groove in Game 2. The Yellowjackets responded to Frazee’s two-run first inning with four runs of their own.
The Hornets took the lead back with a five-run top of the second but Perham cut the lead to 7-6 with two runs in the bottom of the second. Frazee stayed hot with three more runs in the third to go up 10-6. Perham added a run in the bottom of the third and fourth but failed to take back the lead.
Hoffmann finished with a team-high three hits. Mallory Grief, Delaney Kellogg and Autumn Newman each had two hits. Eight different Yellowjacket recorded a hit in the game.
Groth was happy to see his team compete in its first two games of the season. It was a shaky start but he and his girls will move on and get better from it.
“As is the case with most teams at this point in the season, we have some things to clean up and work on and I look forward to getting to work on those,” he said. “Overall, it was nice to get outside and play a quality team like Frazee to start the season."
GAME ONE
PERHAM- 2 2 0 0 0 0 X- 4
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FRAZEE- 1 0 7 3 0 3 X-14
GAME TWO
FRAZEE- 2 5 3 0 0- 10
PERHAM- 4 2 1 1 0- 8
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