by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
The 2025 softball season ended for Thief River Falls Thursday afternoon in Hawley, with the Prowlers coming up on the short end of a pair of shutouts. Thief River Falls was blanked 10-0 in five innings by top-seeded Hawley, before falling 1-0 in a heartbreaking loss to Wadena-Deer Creek in an elimination game.
The Prowlers got off to a fast start in game one with a Braylee Wienen single. Wienen moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but she didn’t advance any further with Ellie McDermott and Raya Dahlin striking out to end the at-bat.
The Nuggets showed patience in their first at-bat as a team, with leadoff hitter Hannah Stotts and number two hitter Addison Sanvick both working deep counts and drawing walks.
Thief River Falls starting pitcher Mika Bernier got her Hawley counterpart, Eagan Hastings, to strikeout, but she threw a wild pitch in the process that allowed both Stotts and Sanvick to score, with Hastings also reaching base.
Hastings got out on a fielder’s choice, with Alex Guderjahn taking her spot at first. Hawley’s five and six hitters, Emily Vettern and Brooke Geffre both flew out to center to end the inning.
Trailing 2-0, the Prowlers put a couple runners on base in the second inning, with Amery Rodriguez reaching on a hit by pitch and Alexie Walseth drawing a two-out walk, but three other batters – Sophia Tougas, JaVayla Vondal-Gayden, and Grace Gonzales – were strikeout victims of Hastings.
The third inning was a similar story for the Prowlers. Greene was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning. She stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by McDermott, but was stranded at third when Dahlin struck out to conclude a six-pitch at-bat.
Bernier pitched a one-two-three second inning but didn’t fare as well facing the top of the Nuggets’ order in third inning. Stotts was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch, and advanced to third on a single by Sanvick.
Sanvick stole second to put two Nugget baserunners in scoring position. Stotts scored on an RBI-groundout by Hastings, with Sanvick moving up to third. Alex Guderjahn drew a six-pitch base on balls to put runners on the corners.
Sanvick scored on a double steal that also allowed Guderjahn to move to second, and Guderjahn scored on an RBI-triple by Vettern to make the score 5-0.
Vettern’s triple came against Thief River Falls reliever Harper Vigen but Guderjahn’s run was charged to Bernier. Vettern was thrown out at the plate attempting to score from third as Geffre reached on a fielder’s choice and the side was retired when Stella Flemming flew out to left.
The Nuggets added to their lead in the fourth with two runs on two hits against Vigen to make the score 7-0; and they added three runs on one hit against Bree Poissant in the fifth inning to get the 10-run win.
Bernier throws no-hitter in loss to Wolverines
After allowing five runs in two and a third innings of work in game one, Bernier returned to the pitching circle for the Prowlers’ elimination game against a Wadena-Deer Creek team that scored seven runs in a 9-7 loss to Roseau a half hour earlier.
Bernier’s counterpart for the Wolverines, Montana Carsten, also exited early in the previous round after allowing seven runs in the third inning against Roseau.
Both pitchers refocused between games and set up an impressive pitcher’s duel that lasted just over an hour.
Carsten retired the side in order in the top of the first, getting Wienen and Greene to groundout, before striking out McDermott.
Bernier got Carsten to line out to lead off the bottom half of the first. She also got Ashley Pavek to pop-up to short and Jada Dykoff to hit a soft liner to third to end the inning.
Carsten continued to work quickly in the second, getting Dahlin and Tougas to groundout, with Rodriguez flying out to left field to end the inning.
The Wolverines scored the only run of the game in the second inning. Karly Haverkamp drew a six-pitch walk with one out in the inning. She advanced to third on a groundout by Alyssa Carr and scored from third when Lily Parker reached on an error. Bernier got Addison Carr to strikeout and end the inning, with Parker stranded at first.
Parker would end up being the final baserunner for the Wolverines, with Bernier retiring the next 12 batters she faced. Five of the 12 were retired on groundouts. She struck out Isabelle Lehmkhul. The remaining six batters were retired on flyballs, with four of the six failing to leave the infield.
Bernier pitched a gem, with superb defense behind her. Unfortunately for the Prowlers, the Wolverines were also up to the task and played superb defense behind Carsten.
Carsten retired the Prowlers in order in the first, second and third innings. Wienen bunted for a base hit to lead off the fourth but got out when Greene hit into a fielder’s choice. Greene stole second but was tagged out at third on another attempted steal, and McDermott struck out to end the fourth.
Carsten retired Dahlin and Tougas to open the fifth inning. Rodriguez hit a one-out single, but that inning ended with Walseth striking out.
Carsten continued to work fast in the sixth inning and retired Vondal-Gayden on a
line drive to first that was snagged by Jada Dykoff for the first out of the inning, before Skye Peters grounded out to first with Dykoff making the play unassisted for the second out.
With two outs in the sixth, the Prowlers were back at the top of the order. Wienen and Greene singled to put runners and first and second, but the inning came to an end with McDermott hitting into a fielder’s choice with Wienen being thrown out at third.
The Prowlers’ final at-bat began with Dahlin reaching on an error. Sophia Tougas popped up behind the plate for the first out. Dahlin was forced out at second with Rodriguez reaching on a fielder’s choice, and the game ended with Rodriguez getting thrown out attempting to steal second.
Thursday’s games against the Nuggets and Wolverines were the final high school games for seniors Miranda Novak, Brooklyn Svendsgaard and Vondal-Gayden. They were also the final games for assistant coaches Bob Huot and Tony Greene.
Game 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF 0 0 0 0 0 X X – 0 2 1
Hawley 2 0 3 2 3 X X – 10 5 0
Batting
Thief River Falls AB R H RBI BB SO
Braylee Wienen 3 0 2 0 0 1
Piper Greene 1 0 0 0 0 1
Ellie McDermott 2 0 0 0 0 1
Raya Dahlin 2 0 0 0 0 2
Sophia Tougas 2 0 0 0 0 2
Amery Rodriguez 1 0 0 0 0 0
J. Vondal-Gayden 2 0 0 0 0 2
Alexie Walseth 1 0 0 0 1 1
Grace Gonzales 1 0 0 0 0 1
Addi Lindgren 1 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 16 0 2 0 1 12
Highlights – HBP: Piper Greene, Amery Rodriguez; SACB: Piper Greene; SB: Piper Greene.
Hawley AB R H RBI BB SO
Hannah Stotts 2 2 1 2 1 0
Addison Sanvick 2 3 2 1 2 0
Eagan Hastings 3 0 1 4 1 1
Alex Guderjahn 2 1 0 0 1 0
Emily Vettern 3 0 1 1 0 0
Brooke Geffre 3 0 0 0 0 0
Stella Flemming 3 0 0 0 0 1
Mallory Halverson 2 1 0 0 1 0
Mckenna Walker 1 2 0 0 1 1
Faith Sannes 0 1 0 0 0 0
Totals 21 10 5 8 7 3
Highlights – 2B: Eagan Hastings; 3B: Emily Vettern; HBP: Hannah Stotts, Mckenna Walker; SB: Alex Guderjahn, Addison Sanvick (2).
Pitching
Thief River Falls IP H R ER BB SO
Mika Bernier 2.1 1 5 5 3 3
Harper Vigen 1.2 3 2 2 1 0
Bree Poissant 0.2 1 3 0 3 0
Hawley IP H R ER BB SO
Eagan Hastings 5 2 0 0 1 12
Game 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
TRF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 4 1
WDC 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 0 1
Batting
Thief River Falls AB R H RBI BB SO
Braylee Wienen 3 0 2 0 0 0
Piper Greene 3 0 1 0 0 0
Ellie McDermott 3 0 0 0 0 2
Raya Dahlin 3 0 0 0 0 1
Sophia Tougas 3 0 0 0 0 0
Amery Rodriguez 3 0 1 0 0 0
Alexie Walseth 2 0 0 0 0 1
Grace Gonzales 1 0 0 0 0 0
Skye Peters 2 0 0 0 0 0
Mika Bernier 0 0 0 0 0 0
J. Vondal-Gayden 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 4 0 0 4
Highlights – Braylee Wienen 2-for-3; Piper Greene 1-for-3; Amery Rodriguez 1-for-3.
Wadena-Deer Creek AB R H RBI BB SO
Montana Carsten 3 0 0 0 0 0
Ashley Pavek 3 0 0 0 0 0
Jada Dykoff 2 0 0 0 0 0
Jenna Dykoff 2 0 0 0 0 0
Karly Haverkamp 1 1 0 0 1 0
Alyssa Carr 2 0 0 0 0 0
Lily Parker 2 0 0 0 0 0
Adisson Carr 2 0 0 0 0 1
Isabelle Lehmkuhl 2 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 19 1 0 0 0 2
Highlights – Karly Haverkamp walk, run.
Pitching
Thief River Falls IP H R ER BB SO
Mika Bernier – L 6.0 0 1 0 1 2
Wadena-Deer Creek IP H R ER BB SO
M. Carsten – W 7.0 4 0 0 0 4