The softball Vikings came close to defeating defending conference champion Princeton in the season opener on Apr. 7, but errors and clutch hitting by the Tigers produced an 8-11 loss.

The game looked like it belonged to Princeton from the start. The Tigers put up 4 runs off starter Maggie Johnson in the 2nd inning on 4 hits, a walk and 2 Viking errors. But North Branch scored 3 in the 3rd, making it 7-3. North Branch cut the lead to 3 at 7-4 when Gabby Olson was hit by a pitch and Danny Sonnenfeld singled.

In the bottom of the 6th the Vikings sent 10 batters to the plate, with singles by Steph Saxe, Megan Ranger, Sonnenfeld and Randy Zentner. They took an 8-7 lead into the 7th, but could not hold on, as 3 more errors and 2 more Tiger hits gave Princeton the win.
Johnson pitched the first 3 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 strike out. Saxe finished the game, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits, 1 walk and 2 strike outs. Sonnenfeld and Johnson each had 2 hits for the Vikings.

"This is one we could have won. We just gave them too many extra outs in the game," said Coach Larry Brodin. "It was a place to start and we will improve, we're still searching for the right combination in the field. Ptiching was OK and we were aggressive at the plate so we can go from there."

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