Prep report: Robillard, Borst throw softball no-hitters
May 6—HERMANTOWN — Superior junior Ari Robillard threw only four strikeouts Monday, but a stout defense behind her helped keep Hermantown hitless in a 16-0 Spartan victory.
Three different Spartan players were 3-for-4 at the plate, including Melania Luostari, Paige "Peeps" Johnson and Gabby Saari.
Luostari had a double and four RBIs, while Johnson had three runs scored and three RBIs.
Lily Borst threw a no-hitter for the Green Eagles on Monday in Clear Lake, notching 18 strikeouts. Paetyn Simsenson tracked down a long fly ball in deep left-center to keep the feat intact in the seventh inning.
Northwood/Solon Springs, scheduled to host Flambeau on Tuesday, has now won 27 consecutive Lakeland-East Conference contests and has only one league loss in the three-plus seasons of the merged program.
Cloquet's Aydann Pollard was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two triples in the Lumberjacks' win over Barnum.
In addition, Josie Lindstrom, Emma Parks and Brooke Proulx all had doubles in the 11-hit day for Cloquet.
Allie Jones struck out six and walked two over five innings in the win.
Makenna Ziesmer had two hits to lead Barnum.
Moose Lake/Willow River's Mackenzie Hoffman allowed just two hits and struck out 10 in the Rebels' win on Monday.
Elsie Leino was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and a run scored.
Duluth Denfeld's Riley Anderson had a three-RBI triple and struck out three batters in the Hunters' win over Duluth Marshall.
Noelle Vesel also had a triple and an RBI, while allowing one hit and striking out four over three innings.
Esko's Bailey Plante had a home run and two RBIs in a win at Aitkin Monday.
Hannah Swanson, Clara Swanson and Rilee Durovec all joined Plante with two hits and Elly Barta's three RBIs led the team.
Kaelyn Foxx allowed six hits over seven innings and struck out eight in the win for Esko.
Duluth East's Bjorn Lind allowed four hits and struck out four in the Greyhounds win Monday.
Jackson Spoden had three RBIs and Joe Nick had a triple, an RBI and a run scored.
Rock Ridge's Tate Uhan allowed three hits and two runs over two and two thirds innings of relief pitching.
Northwood/Solon Springs' Isaiah Ahlberg tossed a complete-game victory against Clear Lake on Monday night in which he allowed just one earned run on four hits. Ahlberg struck out 13 and walked zero in the eight-run win.
In addition to Ahlberg's excellence on the mound, the Green Eagles were excellent offensively. Five players recorded two or more hits, and three players tallied two or more RBIs, including Isaiah Ahlberg, Abe Ahlberg and Jared Schultz.
The Green Eagles, now 10-0 overall, are the No. 3-ranked team in the state, according to the latest Division 4 coaches' poll.
The home team rallied from 7-2 down at halftime to knock off the Hilltoppers in Proctor on Monday night.
Marshall goalie Anna Hron made 16 saves, while Nina Thorson scored three times for Marshall.
The Spartans split in a home triangular on Monday at NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
Superior won three points in the singles, with Dylan Urbaniak outlasting Adrian Erickson 10-6 in a third-set super-tiebreaker at No. 2, while Ty Soderlund (No. 3) and Jack Mueller (No. 4) won in straight sets.
Ben Hirvela and Kevin Phu won 6-3, 6-3 in their No. 2 doubles match for Superior, and both they and Mueller came closest to taking points off River Falls, both falling 6-4, 6-3.
The Hawks won everywhere except No. 1 singles on Monday.
Gabe Swenson at No. 2 singles bounced back from a 7-5 loss in set two to sweep the third. In doubles, both the No. 2 and 3 teams won in three sets: Nayan Watson and Evan Flynn at No. 2 and Nikolai Zhukov and Zach Shingler at No. 3.
The Hawks prevailed in a Lake Superior Conference contest on Monday.
Hermantown took three of four singles points, starting with a 6-1, 6-3 win for Ford Skytta over Rapids' Cooper Lonson.
At No. 1 doubles, Brody Matthews and Ben Kangas of Hermantown took a narrow straight-set decision over Grady Giffen and Ben Schroeder.
Mathias MacMillan grabbed the point at No. 1 singles for Denfeld, but the rest was all Grand Rapids on Monday in West Duluth.
MacMillan defeated Grady Giffen 6-2, 6-3.
Rapids won five of its six points in straight sets, with the No. 1 doubles match between the visitors' Elliott Spahn and Lonson going down to the wire against Connor Doyle and Lenny Jennings. Each side took a 6-3 set before Rapids prevailed 11-9 in a super-tiebreaker.
Thomas Gunderson claimed the Greyhounds' point on Monday, defeating Logan Lunseth 6-4, 6-1.
East's No. 1 singles, Karl Kimber, went to a super-tiebreaker before falling 10-5 to Grayson Dunigan.
Cade Lisson and Isaac Dickenson earned two first-place finishes apiece for Solon Springs/Northwood in the 13-team Welker Invitational in Ashland on Monday.
Lisson prevailed in the 100 meters in 11.27, then took the 400 in 51.87.
Dickenson did his work in the distance runs, running a 4:38 to win the 1,600 before clocking a 9:55 in the 3,200 for another win.
Dylan Taggart had the 800 covered, winning by a wide margin in 2:02.99.
The Superior boys took the 4x100-meter relay in 48.40 and the 4x400 in 3:39.09.
Superior was third and SS/N was fourth among boys teams.
Superior (119) was the highest-finishing girls team, in second behind Ashland (151).
Elena Almonte (5:26.22) and Tayler McMeekin notched a 1-2 finish in the 1600. Almonte added a win in the 800 (2:32.01).
Qamoni Peer claimed a win for the N/SS girls, taking the 400 in 1:06.34. Solon Springs/Northwood finished seventh among girls teams.
Duluth East 6, Rock Ridge 0
Northwood/Solon Springs 10, Clear Lake 2
Hermantown/Proctor 9, Duluth Marshall 8
Superior 16, Hermantown 0
Cloquet 7, Barnum 1
Moose Lake/Willow River 4, East Central 0
Duluth Denfeld 14, Duluth Marshall 0 (5 innings)
Esko 10, Aitkin 3
Northwood/Solon Springs 7, Clear Lake 0
Blaine 6, Duluth East 1
Hermantown 5, Grand Rapids/Greenway 2
Grand Rapids/Greenway 6, Duluth Denfeld 1
Hermantown 6, Aitkin 1
River Falls 7, Superior 0
Superior 5, Ashland 2
