1 week Ago By Maxwell Marko
GRAND FORKS — Opening the season under the lights at UND's Albrecht Field made for a picturesque victory for East Grand Forks Senior High.Following a stellar no-hit performance from Karlee Walsh in the circle and an eight-run third inning, the Green Wave ran away with a 12-2 six-inning victory over East Grand Forks Sacred Heart on Thursday night.“We know with Karlee in the circle, she’s going to throw a lot of strikes for us.
If we can put runs on the board, it puts us at ease defensively. We got ourselves into some situations there but we recovered nicely,” East Grand Forks coach Chelsey Grassel said.Walsh flirted with immaculate innings in the second and third, collecting seven strikeouts her first time through the order.
The offensive explosion for Senior High came quickly in the top of the third. Twelve batters stepped up to the plate and five batted in runs. The highlight of the inning is what started the scoring.
With runners on first and second, Walsh lined a ball into the left-center gap for a two-run triple. From there, Emma Marcott, Addison Kujawa, Makayla Johnson and Sophia Lukach brought in runs as EGF batted around.“We want to make sure that we continue to put the ball in play and make teams make plays,” Grassel said.
“To string as many hits together as we did in that third inning was a lot of fun to watch."Sacred Heart scored two runs on no hits in the fourth. After Walsh walked a trio to load the bases, Lexi Lawrence and Megan Weiss drove in runs on a hit-by-pitch and a fielder’s choice out.
Back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth from Marcott and Kujawa set up another multi-run inning to push the Green Wave out to a 10-run lead. Later, Johnson would score another with a double down the first base line.“We have a lot of good leadership this year with a big senior class.
We’re letting them lead and guide, and we’ll just kind of see where it takes us from there,” Grassel said.Walsh led the way on offense, as well, totaling three hits with two RBI. She tacked on four more strikeouts and add on five walks in her pitching appearance.
“We just wanted to take it all in. To get to open your season at a place like this and field like this is special,” Grassel said. EGF12-SH2 Sacred Heart's Megan Weiss looks toward an East Grand Forks runner after fielding the ball in a game on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
East Grand Forks baserunner Elliana Dumas slides back into first base as Sacred Heart first baseman Bella Effhauser (12) reaches too late to make a tag during their game on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at UND's Albrecht Field. East Grand Forks' Addison Kujawa (25) playfully leaps during pregame warmups before the Green Wave's game against Sacred Heart on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at UND's Albrecht Field. Also shown is Keely Riendeau (17).
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