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Duluth East freshman Cathy Bergstrom socked a triple to help the Hounds rally from a 6-0 deficit to 6-3 against Denfeld. Photo credit: John Gilbert

East ninth-grader Cathy Bergstrom was smothered by teammates after her 3-run home run tied Denfeld 6-6. Both teams had their leads, but Denfeld finally won 15-13. Photo credit: John Gilbert

It used to always be automatic that when Denfeld and East got together in any sports event, it was something worth viewing. The same came true in spades last week when the Hunters and Greyhounds met in a softball battle for the ages at East’s field — which is now actually behind Ordean-East Middle School, the former East.

If that’s confusing enough, the East baseball team plays on the renewed high school field, which is located at the new East, which used to be Ordean Middle School. But we digress.
Denfeld got the jump on East for a 6-0 lead, before East’s Cathy Bergstrom, a ninth-grader, hammered a triple to right-center and came around to score after a couple of walks. Lexi Mathias, daughter of former East and Denver hockey star Scott Mathias, came through with a 2-run single off the glove of Denfeld’s diving shortstop to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Next time around, Bergstrom, who played regularly as an eighth-grader last year, came up with two runners on and hit a 3-run home run for a 6-6 tie. East went on to take a 7-6 lead, and when Denfeld tied it 7-7, East went back ahead 8-7.
Ah, spring softball in Duluth! Dodging rain showers and fighting off the chill of late afternoon, the teams kept battling, and Denfeld managed to get away with a 15-13 victory. Good test for both teams, and it turns out to be a non-conference Lake Superior Conference encounter.
Next time it will count, but it’s unlikely to have the dramatic twists and turns of this one. 
    

Sophomore Garrett Olson rolled out while directing the Maroon team to a 6-0 victory in UMD’s annual spring game. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Bulldogs Spring Game 6-0

UMD football coach Curt Wiese said he was satisfied with the performance of his Bulldogs at their annual spring game at Malosky Stadium last Friday.
But then, Wiese always did like defense.
The Maroon squad moved the ball pretty well, and when it stalled, Cameron Hausman kicked a 37-yard field goal in the first half, and a 37-yarder in the second half for the Maroons, who won the game 6-0.
Returning quarterback John Larson sat out the game, as he completes his recovery from the injury that knocked him out late last season, and he should be ready to go full out this fall. In his place, Garrett Olson and Keagan Calchera got big opportunities to show what they could do running the offenses.

Olson, from Eden Prairie, will be a sophomore and he was quarterback for the winning Maroon side. They moved the ball to several first downs, even though they couldn’t get close enough to go for a touchdown. The Maroon defense, meanwhile, forced mostly three-and-outs in a dominating effort.

Stanley Cup Incredible

Forget all about the form chart, this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs are off the charts for proving parity in the league. The East’s top seed, Tampa Bay, was eliminated in four straight by No. 8 Columbus, and in the West, No. 1 Calgary was taken out in five games by Colorado. The New York Islanders, better known as Minnesota-East, took out the Pittsburgh Penguins in four straight. And so forth…

But there  won’t be many series as wild and crazy as the Vegas Golden Knighgts against the San Jose Sharks, which went until midnight Tuesday night. Vegas was cruising to victory in Game 7 in San Jose, leading 3-0, when San Jose captain Joe Pavelski  — playing after a return from having his jaw and teeth broken by a flying puck shot by teammate Brent Burns — got hit by a cheap shot and hit the ice hard.

The Sharks went on a 5-minute major power play while their captain was helped to the dressing room. With an incredible surge, San Jose pumped four goals past Marc-Andre Fleury in l4 minutes during that major, to vault to a 4-3 lead as their fans went crazy. But Vegas came back almost immediately and scored to tie it 4-4, and it boiled on into overtime.

After numerous chances at both ends, someone named Barclay Goodrow, who had two shifts earlier in the overtime, scored to give the Sharks an amazing comeback victory 5-4 and the chance to move on to the second round.
The Sharks will face the Colorado Avalanche, another surprise winner, while Dallas and St. Louis will meet in the other West second round.

Mikey Anderson Signs

UMD’s two-time defending hockey champions lost junior Riley Tufte, who signed with the Dallas Stars, and now they have also lost Mike Anderson, the sophomore defenseman who emerged as a true star during the last six weeks of the season, who signed a 3-year deal, and will pass up his final two years.
Captain Parker Mackay, who was a senior, signed a one-year minor league deal with the Stars top minor league team as well. There could be more. Stay tuned.