Through seven innings of action, Chanhassen had just about everything go its way in the 2021 season opener.
For starters, the Storm were back together on the field for the first time since the 2019 section tournament. Besides that, Chanhassen had held Northfield to zero runs across seven innings. The one problem: the Storm hadn’t scored a run yet either.
In what turned into a battle of two all-state caliber pitchers and future Minnesota Golden Gophers, Chanhassen got the victory as the Storm broke the 0-0 deadlock in the eighth inning with a walk-off run to capture their 2021 season opener 1-0 at Chanhassen High School on Thursday.
Chanhassen loaded the bases in the eighth inning thanks to an error and a pair of walks after not getting on base for four innings. With the bases juiced, Storm senior center fielder Daisy Lang dropped a bloop hit into centerfield to give Chanhassen a 1-0 win against Northfield on Thursday.
The story of this game certainly centers around the performance of each team’s pitcher. Junior Sydney Schwartz starred in the circle for the Storm (1-0). She finished with 18 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Northfield senior pitcher Brynn Hostettler finished with 20 strikeouts.
Hostettler, a University of Minnesota commit, had the Storm offense stumped as the team had just one hit in the first seven innings of action before breaking the scoreless deadlock in extras.
That first hit came from Schwartz, who lined a single in the third inning. Chanhassen had five players reach via hit-by-pitch or walk. The Raiders also committed an error in the eighth inning, allowing senior right fielder Bella Plath to reach.
As for Northfield (1-2), the job was just as difficult going up against Schwartz, another future Gopher. The Raiders did manage to get runners to third in the fifth and sixth inning but failed to scratch across a run.
Senior shortstop Payton Fox, senior second baseman Mikaela Girard, senior catcher Chloe Rozga and Hostettler accounted for Northfield’s four hits.
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