CHERRY—At the midway point of the 2024 season, the Cherry High School softball team was struggling in all three phases of the game, which concerned Tiger coach Darrell Bjerklie.
But Bjerklie and his coaching staff stayed patient in the hope that things would come together.
Following a 19-7 loss to Moose Lake-Willow River on May 10, Cherry started putting things together.
The Tigers have now won six games in a row, including three playoff wins over Cook County, Carlton/Wrenshall and Silver Bay.
Cherry will try to make it seven-straight games today when they take on Moose Lake-Willow River in a Section 7A winner’s bracket contest, beginning at 1 p.m. at Braun Park in Cloquet.
The winner of that game will advance into the finals, while the loser will fall into the elimination bracket, and will have to work their way back into the title game.
At the season’s outset, none of that seemed possible.
“We knew there would be growing pains during the regular season,” Bjerklie said. “We were trying to figure out the best spots for everybody to play. It took us awhile, then during the last week of the regular season, things started blending together.
“We cleaned up our defense. We eliminated errors, and our pitching got cleaner, more crisp. Our catching had a big turnaround. We made a change there. Our hitting kept getting stronger. That’s been a key in our six-game winning streak.”
Bjerklie always knew the ability and talent was there, but this team had to learn how to compete at a high level.
“It was about maintaining our composure in high-pressure situations,” Bjerklie said. “That’s a tough thing to know as to when it clicks and sticks. They started to understand what it takes to compete at a high level.
“That’s the key.”
The Rebels are the defending Section 7A champions, and they pose a potential hurdle in the Cherry’s run to the finals.
“The key for us is to get over the fear of Moose Lake-Willow River,” Bjerklie said. “They’ve had our number for a few years, but we’ve matured a lot. They present challenges that we need to go over in practice as to what we could see.”
Like what?
“They have speed,” Bjerklie said. “They’ve got a lot of speed. They put the ball in play. They like to bunt. They push you on the bases. We have to prepare for that and handle those many different situations.
“We have to know what we’re going to do. They’re an aggressive-minded team. That’s a good trait to have. We have to match that. We have to be aggressive and alert.”
As long as the Tigers keep improving, there’s no reason why they can’t be that lone undefeated team in the tournament.
“We’ve beaten some good teams,” Bjerklie said. “We’ve played clean fastpitch softball. We’ve been hitting in the clutch. Our fielding has been good. Our catcher is throwing out runners on the base paths.
“Our pitcher hasn’t been giving up free passes. She’s hitting her spots. We have to keep building. We haven’t won anything yet. We know our work isn’t done yet. We have to keep working to get better.”
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