GILMORE CITY—Spirit Lake belted three home runs in its final two at bats to break open a 7-2 game and went on to a 16-4, five-inning non-conference baseball win on Monday, July 5, over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.
The visitors built a 7-0 advantage after the first two and one half innings before Cole Thilges drew a one-out walk and cruised home as Noah Link blasted a 2-2 pitch over the right field fence to cut the lead to 7-2.
 
Read more in the July 8 Advance.

Last week the Class 1A district baseball pairings were released for the three area teams while the Class 3A substate pairings will come out this week for the Algona Bulldogs.
West Bend-Mallard (5-14) will open play in District No. 2 on Saturday, July 10, at 5 p.m. at Newell against the West Hancock Eagles (6-14).

ALGONA—Bishop Garrigan concluded Top of Iowa Conference baseball play on Friday, July 2, with a 13-6 victory over the West Hancock Eagles.
The win gave the Golden Bears a final record of 9-6 in the league. The red-and-white finished 4-10 in conference games.
 
See more on Bishop Garrigan baseball in the July 8 Advance.

WEST BEND—It has been a tough year for the eight seniors on the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines softball squad as the team had dropped their first 19 of games of the 2021 campaign.
But those eight players had a memorable Senior Night as the purple-and-gold ended the regular season on Tuesday, June 29, with their first victory of the season with a 10-9 win over the Eagle Grove Eagles.
 
See the full story in the July 8 Advance.

GARNER—The North Union Warriors softball squad completed its Top of Iowa Conference title run with a 5-0 shutout win over Garner-Hayfield/Ventura on Friday, July 2.
The victory improved the green-black-and-silver’s overall record to 26-4 and the seventh-ranked squad in Class 2A claimed the league title with a 15-1 mark. The Cardinals finished the regular season at 10-15 and were 6-10 in conference games.
 

CLARION—Algona took over sole possession of second place in the North Central Conference baseball standings on Monday, July 5 with a 12-1, five-inning victory on the road over the Clarion-Goldfield/Dows Cowboys.
The squad improved to 15-10 overall on the year and is now 9-3 in conference games, only topped by conference leader Webster City, who sits atop the league at 12-0.
 
Get more on Bulldogs baseball in the July 8 print edition of the Advance.

ALGONA—Abbie Capesius blasted a pair of long home runs to help the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears softball team to a 6-4 victory on Thursday, July 1, over their cross-town rival, the Algona Bulldogs.
Capesius opened the game with a bang as she deposited the third pitch of the contest over the left field fence for an early 1-0 advantage for the black-and-gold.
 
Get the full story in the July 8 print edition of the Advance.

ALGONA—Taking advantage of opportunities can be a big factor in the success of any athletic team. The Algona Bulldogs softball squad took advantage of one of those situations on Friday, June 11, in a 16-4, three-inning North Central Conference victory over the Humboldt Wildcats.

GILMORE CITY—Bishop Garrigan pounded out 22 hits and rolled to a 23-0, five-inning non-conference baseball victory on Thursday, June 10, over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.
Both Garrett Heying and Drew Fogarty had three hits to lead the Golden Bears’ offense with one of Heying’s hits being a two-bagger while teammates Kyphus Goche, Isaiah Byrkeland, Jacob Leerar, Joey Trainer and Nathan Merron all contributed two singles.

ALGONA—Algona rallied late twice in the game to force extra innings but Estherville-Lincoln Central scored four times in the top of the eighth frame to pull out a 10-6 non-conference baseball victory on Thursday, June 10, over the red-and-black.
Jensen Eischen, Stren Crouch and Kyle Simpson each had a pair of singles to lead the 11-hit Algona attack. 
 

SPIRIT LAKE—The North Union Warriors softball team won three more game on Saturday, June 12, at the Spirit Lake tournament. The green-black-and-silver started the day by rallying in the final inning for a 12-6 victory over Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley.
The Warriors trailed 6-5 going into the fifth inning, the final inning due to the time limit, but responded with seven runs to earn the come-from-behind 12-6 win.

MANSON—Manson Northwest Webster scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Monday, June14 to rally for a 4-3 Twin Lakes Conference baseball victory over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.
Mitch Stevens and Cole Thilges each had three singles to lead the purple-and-gold at the plate as Nolan Ford contributed a pair of singles and Sam Fehr added one single.
 

MANSON—Manson Northwest Webster scored in every inning but the first in a 15-5, five-inning Twin Lakes Conference softball win on Monday, June 14, over the West Bend-Mallard Wolverines.
Kylee Brosh led the Wolverines at the plate with a pair of singles along with one single each from Kylee Thilges, Kayla Hoskins and Shaylee Wise. 
 

BRITT—It took an extra frame to decide a winner on Tuesday, June 8 in Top of Iowa Conference baseball game between the North Union Warriors and the West Hancock Eagles as the home team squeezed out a narrow 10-9 victory in eight innings.
The green-black-and-silver pounded out a season-high 12 hits in the loss as Evan Bollinger led the way with two singles and a double and Caden DeVary contributed three singles.

BRITT—Bishop Garrigan exploded for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning on Friday, June 11, to rally from a 5-4 deficit and went onto a 12-5 Top of Iowa Conference softball victory over the West Hancock Eagles.
The black-and-gold pounded out 13 hits in the win with both Abbie Capesius and Halle Menke leading the way with two singles and a double as Tara Kron added three singles.