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Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (17-3 and seeded second in the Subsection 20AA) used a five-run fourth inning to break open their semifinal game against the Bulldogs in Kimball on Tuesday. The Dogs had scored a run in the top of the fourth to cut the Lakers' lead to 2-1 before HL-W-W's big inning. The Lakers used three hits, three walks, and a Paynesville error to score five runs.

The Dogs rallied with two runs in the top of the fifth on a two-run double by senior Mel Mages. Being aggressive on the basepaths due to their deficit and a strong HL-W-W pitcher, Mages was thrown out at home and another runner was caught in a hot box and tagged out for the Dogs.

Senior Mel Mages slides home after hitting a two-run double in the sixth inning against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted last week in the subsection semifinals at Kimball. Mages was out at home, and the Dogs lost 8-3.

The Lakers' pitcher, Angie Gatz, recorded 13 strikeouts in the game. "She threw harder than anybody we'd seen," said coach Tim Woehler. After seeing a slower pitcher on Monday against Kimball, added Woehler, it was tough for the team to adjust to Gatz's velocity.

The Lakers took a 2-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first and an unearned run in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, the Dogs cut that lead back to one when sophomore Laura Schaefer and senior Amanda Skalicky had back-to-back singles. With the runners on the corners, Skalicky stole second and on the throw to second, Schaefer stole home.

In the fourth, senior Allyson Klenke singled with one out and the next Bulldog batter reached on an error before Mages' hit. With the two runs batted in, Mages set a new school record for most RBIs in a season (24).

The Dogs beat sixth-seeded Kimball 10-0 again in the subsection quarterfinal on Monday, May 22, at PAHS. The Dogs also beat Kimball 10-0 in their season opener in April.

This time, the Dogs led only 1-0 before exploding for four runs in the bottom of the fourth and another four runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Sophomore Ashley Ogdahl pitched a three-hit shutout for the Dogs and hit a two-out single in the bottom of the sixth to score Skalicky for the Dogs' tenth run, invoking the ten-run rule.

Mages singled, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on a groundout for a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

In the fourth, senior Jess Engler singled, junior Chelsey Kalkbrenner hit an RBI single, senior Allyson Klenke poked a two-run double, and Mages had an RBI triple, getting thrown out at home trying to stretch the hit into a homerun.

The Dogs came back with four more runs in the fifth, building a 9-0 lead. The Dogs had four hits in the inning - by Skalicky, Engler, Kalkbrenner, and Hansen - but only Engler's hit drove in a run. Another run scored on a passed ball, and two scored on a Kimball error.

With the victory over Kimball, the Dogs extended their school record for victories to 13, finishing their season with a record of 13-9. The previous school record for wins in softball was 10; the Dogs were 10-7 in 1981 (when they reached the district finals in their first year) and 10-8 last year.

"It was a lot of fun," said Woehler of the season. "We had a good seasonŠ(but) we can't be satisfied."

Woehler said the Dogs had a great team spirit this year, which made it his most enjoyable season of coaching. Hitting was a surprising strength for the Dogs, who recorded the second highest team batting average in school history, among a number of new records.

"I knew we'd be OK," said Woehler of the season, "but I didn't expect all these records to fall."

Of their 13 wins, eight came by the ten-run rule. On the other hand, the Dogs went 2-4 in one-run games and 3-6 in games decided by two runs or less. "We lived and died with our bats," said Woehler.

HL-W-W advanced to the subsection final on Thursday against top-seeded Maple Lake (20-2), with the Irish winning 1-0.

Subsection Quarterfinals

Kimball--	000	000	x	- 0	3	2
Paynesville--	100	441	x	- 10	14	3

Kimball - Batting: J. Brutger 1-2; M. Masman 1-2; A. Schieflbein 1-3; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) W. Getter (L) (5.2-14-10-9-1-5).

Paynesville - Batting: Mel Mages 4-5 3B R RBI SB-2; Chelsey Kalkbrenner 2-3 R-2 RBI; Amanda Skalicky 2-4 R-2 SB-2; Jess Engler 2-4 R; Ashley Ogdahl 2-4 RBI; Allyson Klenke 1-3 2B RBI-2; Chelsey Hansen 1-2 R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Ogdahl (W) (6-3-0-0-1-3).

Subsection Semifinals

Paynesville--	000	120	0	- 3	7	2
HL-W-W--	101	501	x	- 8	7	0

Paynesville - Batting: Laura Schaefer 2-3 2B R SB; Amanda Skalicky 2-2; Mel Mages 1-3 2B RBI-2; Allyson Klenke 1-3 R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Jess Engler (L) (3.2-5-7-3-2-2); Ashley Ogdahl (2.1-2-1-1-1-0).

Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted - Batting: Kristal Sawatzke 2-4 3B R-2 RBI; Amber Cardinal 2-3 R RBI; Katrina Koppi 1-3 2B R; Katie Pettit 1-4 2B; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Angie Gatz (W) (7-7-3-3-1-13).