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In their season opener, Paynesville started out shaky with mental mistakes and struggled in the first inning with their batting.

New London-Spicer came out strong in the first inning by hitting a double and scoring a run. The Wildcats added to their lead when they scored two more runs in the bottom of the second.

Ninth grader Kim Hess started off the Dogs' third inning by getting a base hit and stealing second base. Senior Laurie Barten then hit a double to bring in Hess. Barten attempted to steal third base but was thrown out by the catcher.

NLS again scored in the bottom of the third to take a 4-1 lead.

The Bulldogs rallied to take the lead with four runs over the next three innings. Senior Jen Habben hit a single in the fourth and advanced to second base on senior Heather Roos' hit. Habben then stole third base and Roos went to second. Habben scored on junior Ashley Mackedanz's hit, and Roos scored on Hess' sacrifice fly to right field.

The Bulldogs had great defense in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings and kept the Wildcats from scoring more runs. In the fifth inning, a NL-S runner was called out at first but after a discussion she was called safe. She tried to steal second, but was thrown out for the first out, while senior Lisa Hemingson struck out the next two batters.

Trailing 4-3, Hemingson was walked in the fifth inning and stole second. She advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on another one to tie the game at 4-4.

Hess scored again in the sixth inning to give the Bulldogs a one-run lead, but NL-S scored two unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to win 6-5.

Hemingson had a superb pitching game, going all seven innings. She changed speeds well and recorded 10 strikeouts while walking four batters.

The Bulldogs played a rescheduled game on Monday at Melrose and hosted Cathedral on Tuesday.

Paynesville travels to Albany on Thursday, April 18, for a game at 4:30 p.m. The varsity and junior varsity softball teams will host a tournament on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. On Tuesday, April 23, the Bulldogs host Litchfield at 4:30 p.m.

Paynesville--	001	211	0	- 5	14	3
NL-S--	121	000	2	- 6	9	3

NLS- Batting: Rocquel Herman 2-3; Ashley Powers 1-3 2B; Amber Peterson 2-4 2B; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Sadie Nineman (W) (7-14-5-5-7-6).
Paynesville - Batting: Laurie Barten 2-4 2B RBI; Jenny Habben 2-3 R; Heather Roos 2-3 R RBI; Kim Hess 2-3 R-2 RBI; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Lisa Hemingson (L) (7-9-6-4-4-10).