Lady Vikings putting up huge offensive numbers

SOFTBALL: Forest Grove revs up its offense to win three of its first four non-league games

By Zack Palmer

The Forest Grove News-Times, Mar 26, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Zack Palmer / News-Times

Forest Grove sophomore Katy Brosig gets a high-five from teammate Claire Van Domelen (No. 6) after making a dazzling play in the field.

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BEAVERTON — The smiles on the faces of Forest Grove’s softball players didn’t tell the whole story Saturday afternoon. In fact, the smiles were not in any way representative of what the Lady Vikings endured in a bizarre and grueling 15-14 loss to Sunset.

In a game that lasted over two hours and featured 29 combined runs, 26 hits, six errors and some questionable officiating, the Lady Vikings should have been worn out. Instead, the girls smiled and laughed as they huddled near the bus for a post-game talk from head coach Ole Evenson (who was ejected after the game for arguing with the umpires but managed to keep a smile on his face, too).

“Neither team had a strike zone. Both pitchers had to just groove it right down the middle,” Evenson said. “I just give the kids so much credit. Not once did they complain about the umpires. They’ve gotten to a great, mature level where they understand that their job is to play the game and it’s my job to worry about the officiating.”

Emma Gronseth, Forest Grove’s all-state pitcher, struggled through one of the most frustrating games of her career, throwing 188 pitches in seven innings (only eight of which were called strikes) and walking a career-high eight batters.

“Emma was the most mature person on the field,” Evenson said. “With a normal strike zone, she threw the equivalent of 17 innings. I told [catcher] Faith [Evenson], ‘You basically caught two games without a break.’ It was crazy.”

Crazy it was. Sunset led 9-5 through three innings until Forest Grove tied the game in the top of the fifth. The Lady Vikings surged ahead 14-10 with a five-run rally in the top of the seventh only to watch as Sunset scored five runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to snatch away a victory.

After the game, Evenson felt a few mistakes cost his team a chance to run its early-season record to 4-0. Of the 15 runs given up by Gronseth, only six were earned.

“We outhit them. We outran them on the bases. But mistakes hurt us,” Evenson said. “If we don’t make those mistakes, we still win the game.”

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