Brittney Boser's job was to simply throw strikes.
However, she threw them so well and accumulated so many strikeouts she helped the Pierz Pioneers softball team go from 1-19 last year to the Section 6-2A championship game this year.
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Brittney Boser
- Year: Sophomore
- School: Pierz
- Sport: Softball
- Position: Pitcher
- Highlights: Pitched the Pioneers to four straight Section 6-2A losers' bracket victories
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"We were hoping she could just throw strikes and we could play defense behind her," said Pierz head coach Matt Poepping. "Last year, we averaged about nine to 10 walks a game. Our kind of theory was hopefully they hit the ball and we just make plays behind Brittney. We haven't had to do that a ton just because she strikes out seven to 10 girls a game. That's big. Our defense doesn't have to do everything, but our defense has been pretty steady all year."
The sophomore pitcher was clutch in the playoffs as she pitched seven games and helped Pierz crawl back through the losers' bracket to the section final.
After pitching a 1-0 shutout of Melrose in the opening round, Boser and the Pioneers lost to the South's top-seeded Albany 5-4 to fall into the losers' bracket.
In the first game after the loss, Boser threw a 9-0 no-hitter against Holdingford.
"She's just staying focused," Poepping said. "Her and Brianna Meyer, our catcher, have been locked in. It's been those two working together and playing catch out there. Her ability to stay focused has been impressive. Even if a runner gets on-let's say she walks the first girl-she steps it up to another level. For a sophomore to do that is pretty impressive."
In Pierz's last four games, all wins, Boser is 4-0 with four complete games. She's allowed 20 hits, six walks and six earned runs, while striking out 31 batters.
Boser throws a fastball and changeup, although Poepping said she had more confidence in her changeup at the beginning of the season. He also said she has a natural rise on her fastball.
"Brianna and I played basketball together so we're pretty tight," Boser said. "She just understands me and knows how to get me back up if I'm struggling. We just work good together."
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Boser is doing it at the plate, too. In the final losers' bracket game before reaching the section finals, Pierz played Albany once more. This time the Pioneers eliminated Albany 5-4. It was Boser's run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth that sealed the victory.
"This was about teamwork," said Boser. "We all knew our roles on the team and we definitely played how we were supposed to.
"Plus, we just stuck together. This shocked us all. But now that we've been winning we have stuck together and we're definitely more of a team now."
In those last four games, Boser walked six times and was 3-of-15 with four RBIs, six runs and a double from the No. 3 spot in the order.
"At the start of the season, I just was hoping that we would all work well together and that we would get at least more than one win," said Boser. "We just kind of kept going and kept doing what we were doing and it was working for us."
Other notable performances:
Golf: Alex Stone, Pequot Lakes, shot 75 to win the Menahga Invite, was second at the Detroit Lakes Invite with a 76 and tied for medalist with a 75 at the South Subsection 8-2A meet.
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Olivia Klefsaas, shot 82 for medalist honors at the St. Cloud Cathedral invite.
Softball: Emma Litke, Pillager, finished 3-3 with two doubles and an RBI against Hinckley-Finlayson.
Lindsey Tulenchik, Pine River-Backus, went 2-3 with a triple, run and two RBIs against Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.
Miah Hansen, Pine River-Backus, finished 2-4 with three RBIs and pitched the victory against Northland.
Kylie Woidyla, Pillager, went 2-4 with two RBIs and two doubles against Ogilvie.
Laura Squires, Pequot Lakes, finished with a double, two RBIs and a run scored against Albany.
Annie Semmler, Pine River-Backus, finished 2-4 with three runs and two RBIs against Pillager.
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JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .
