Hopkins stepped out of O-K Silver Conference softball action Friday and dropped both ends of a doubleheader to a pretty good Lowell outfit.
The Lady Vikings lost 7-1 and 15-12, but coach Amy Funk gave her charges a lot of praise. Noting her No. 1 pitcher, Hannah Brinks, was missing because she was attending a wedding, she said, “A piece of our puzzle was missing, but we fought a good fight with a good D1 (Division 1) team.”
Indeed Lowell entered the town bill with a 5-2 overall record, and one of its losses was to a Byron Center squad that mercied Wayland.
The heavy lifting went to junior Dahlia Velthouse, who sat out much of last season with an injury, but she absorbed both losses on the mound to the Arrows. Though she did a creditable job going the distance in the opener, she was hammered in the nightcap.
The Vikings’ offensive attack in the opener was subpar, collecting only five hits, but Anery Osborn and Lyla Reynolds both had two. Osborn had a double and Ava VanderKolk a triple.
The second game was nothing short of a slugfest. Lowell hammered out 19 hits, but Hopkins had 13, actually grabbing leads of 7-4 and 12-9 along the way.
VanderKolk had the big stick for the Vikings with three hits, including a grand slam homer. Lyla Reynolds also went yard and Cami Hibma delivered a triple.
Jessica Spray and Avery Osborn both had two hits.
The losses dropped Hopkins’ overall season record to 3-4, but the Vikings remain undefeated in league play. Lowell, meanwhile, now is 7-2.
