SOFTBALL
Linder, Venditto lead Rapids past #5 Chisago Lakes
Grand Rapids 8, Chisago Lakes 1
LINDSTROM— The Thunderhawks won their biggest game of the season in their final regular game when they went on the road and took down the No. 5 ranked AAA team in the state, beating Chisago Lakes 8-1 before entering the section tournament.
Thunderhawks ace Addie Linder was on the mound for Grand Rapids, dominating the Wildcats in a complete game performance, throwing all seven innings in which she allowed five hits and struck out six while only giving up a single run to the Wildcats offense in the fifth inning. Adrienne Venditto was a menace for Grand Rapids, collecting two hits and stealing a base after each one. The Thunderhawks had two big innings against the Wildcats, but only needed one to secure the win, scoring four runs in the fourth and seventh innings to secure the win.
Thunderhawks head coach Danny Potter is seeing consistency in the recent victories.
“For me, It tells our program where we are as a team. We had a good week with four wins but more importantly, we played well each time out,” said Potter.
As long as Addie Linder continues own the pitcher’s circle and the Rapids bats continue to produce, this Thunderhawks team can play with the best of them, and beat the best of them, as measured by their strong win over one of the best Class 3A teams in the state in Chisago Lakes
“I want us to keep playing well and hope some breaks go our way,” said Potter, as his focus will now shift to Cloquet and the Section 7AAA tournament, which was rescheduled for Thursday in Cloquet.
Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin 5, Esko 2
Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin 13, Chisholm 0
Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin 16, Pine City 1
GNK picked up a pair of wins over the weekend, turning up the heat on Chisholm in a 13-0 shutout victory, before taking down International Falls 10-6
Ava Johnson was her usual, dominant self, striking out 11 Bluestreaks and only allowing two baserunners, giving up one hit and walk all game. Jocelyn Mikulich had a big day from the plate, going 3-5 while Lydia Schwartz and Ava Johnson each had two a piece. Sophia Denucci had two RBI to lead the Titans.
Johnson was on the mound Saturday at home against International Falls, who challenged the GNK pitcher but could not solve her by the end of the game. Johnson gave up eight hits and three earned runs while striking out three batters and walking two. Johnson also had three hits from the plate, along with Makenna Sobtzak to lead GNK, who had 12 hits overall and 9-7 on the year.
GNK faced-off against Pine City in the Class 7AA Section tournament on Monday in Coleraine and dominated the Dragons 16-1, sending a message to the rest of the section.
GNK jumped out to an 8-1 lead after a big four-hit second inning, including an Ava Johnson double that brought in three runs.
The Titans wrapped-up the win with another seven runs in the fourth inning, using a patient approach at the plate and smart baserunning to take out Pine City.
Ava Johnson got the win for GNK, pitching all four innings and striking out four while allowing four hits and one run.
Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin 9, Chisholm 1
COLERAINE— Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin took down Chisholm 9-1 in their final home game of the season. GNK should finish up the regular season this week with games Tuesday and Thursday prior to opening up the section tournament.
Mille Lacs 13, Hill City-Northland 5
Mille Lacs 15, Hill City-Northland 14
MILLE LACS— The Storm dropped both games in a doubleheader on Saturday in Mille Lacs, losing the first 13-5 before a 15-14 loss on the road. Hill City-Northland takes on Mountain Iron-Buhl in Hill City Tuesday before the section tournament starts. Results against Mountain Iron-Buhl were unavailable prior to publication.
BASEBALL
Grand Rapids 8, Princeton 7
PRINCETON— The Thunderhawks took to the road to face the 13-win Princeton Tigers on Monday and handed them their sixth loss of the year, beating the Tigers 8-7 on the road before preparing for a rescheduled doubleheader against Hermantown at Bob Streetar field Wednesday. Caleb Gunderson got the win from the mound with a four-inning performance, giving up seven hits, two earned runs and a K, before Easton Sjostrand came in for relief.
Sjostrand was sharp in the effort, getting strikeouts in three innings. Gunderson and Kyler Miller led the offense with two hits apiece, Miller, with three RBI in the win.
Deer River 12, Littlefork-Big Falls 1
Chisholm 3, Deer River 2
The Warriors split two games over the weekend. Deer River traveled to Littlefork-Big Falls on Friday and took down the Vikings 12-1 with a complete game from Jaxon Lind.
On Saturday the Warriors headed to Chisholm but lost 3-2. Preston Reed got the start and went five innings for Deer River in a 1-run ballgame.
TRACK AND FIELD
Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin
Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin’s junior varsity team are the IRC Champions in 2024. The varsity will take part in the subsection event on Wednesday, at Mesabi East.
Deer River/Northland
The Deer River-Northland-Hill City War Eagles will participate in their 7A subsection event on Wednesday, at Mesabi East.
Grand Rapids
The Grand Rapids Thunderhawks track and field team will be in Bemidji on Thursday for the Bemidji Invitational.
Bigfork
The Bigfork Huskies will travel to Aurora to participate in their 7A subsection event on Wednesday, at Mesabi East.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Grand Rapids-Greenway 14, Duluth 11
GRAND RAPIDS— The GRG girls LAX team took down visiting Duluth at Noble Hall Field on Monday, beating the Wolfpack 14-11 to improve to 9-2 this year. Next up, they are in Moorhead Thursday, to take on the 7-3 Spuds.
BOYS GOLF
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids finished in 4th place out of 14 teams Friday at Rock Ridge Invitational in Virginia, totaling 310. Hermantown was low with 304, Hibbing had 306 and Duluth East had 308. Marco Rolle was second-lowest scoring individual with 72 behind Holdyn Evjen of Hermantown, who shot three under par 68. Other Rapids scores were Drew Stanley 75, Zach Roy 81, Colton Stupar 82, Carter Casey 83 and Oliver Grosland 90. Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin was 6th at the event with 318 total. Scores were Caiden Carpenter 76, Cole Donahue 79, Louis Champlin 81, Jack Klamm 82, Derek Gibeau 91 and Preston Troumbly 96.
On Monday in Cloquet, the Thunderhawks finished in second out of 12 competing teams, scoring a 307 - the lowest score of the year for Grand Rapids, finishing just two strokes behind host Cloquet, who shot a 305.
Will Shermoen led Grand Rapids with a 75, which was an incredible third-place finish out of 69 total golfers in the event. Other scores included Drew Stanley 76, Marco Rolle 77, Colton Stupar 79, Zach Roy 90 and Carter Casey 93. This was the final regular season meet and Section 7AAA tournament begins May 29, at Grand National Golf Club in Hinckley.
GIRLS GOLF
Grand Rapids took second place in their tournament in Cloquet on Monday, scoring a 369 to finish behind Rock Ridge, who shot 360. The Thunderhawks had three top-10 finishers at the meet, led by fourth-place finisher overall Brianna Dekich, who shot an 87. She was followed by teammates Sydney Burggraf who finished eighth with a 92, Mia Peters with 93, Kate Clairmont with a 97, Meish Fairchild scored 102, and Madeline Larson with a 113. Grand Rapids meet in Detroit Lakes scheduled for Tuesday, has been changed to Thursday due to inclement weather.
FISHING
The Grand Rapids High School fishing team competed for the first time in 2024 last Sunday on Gull Lake. Ryder Miskovich and Joey Miskovich were the top tandem for the Thunderhawks with an impressive eighth-place finish. The team of Tyler Johnson and Reid Johnson placed 11th at the event.
There were no state tournament qualifiers, says Thunderhawks head fishing coach Chris Stanley, however he says the team is “off to a good start!”
The next fishing tournament for the Thunderhawks fishing team will be June 9, on Lake Le Homme Dieu in Alexandria.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Hermantown 3, Grand Rapids 0
GRAND RAPIDS— The Thunderhawks boys volleyball team stayed in the fight against Hermantown but could not win a set versus the Hawks, losing 22-25, 25-27, 17-25 in front of a good home crowd. They play their final game against Cloquet at home, Wednesday, May 29.
NORTHERN REVIVAL
The Northern Revival 18’s played their last tournament together at the Molten Cup in Maple Grove, MN. They ended up taking fourth place in the 18’s Premier Division despite facing adversity directly in the face, when four of the 18’s players were unavailable due to “unforeseen events.” Colby LaPlant and Lainee Barrick stepped up to carry that extra burden, providing a huge lift for the fourth place team.
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