Sami and Kendra Bogen have posted some downright silly numbers this season, but the pair is no joke — and neither are the Huskies. Suddenly, Owatonna softball stands on the verge of history.
BY JON WEISBROD I THE HUSKY BULLETIN
Sure, there’s a decent chance Sami Bogen and her younger sister, Kendra, have benefitted from a few “hometown” calls in the official scorebook and their individual statistics might be inflated just a tad this season.
But go ahead, shave off a few hits. Turn a few of those singles into errors and nullify a few of those questionable RBIs. Heck, you can even knock off a few points based on good-old human error and it’s not going to make a bit of difference.
Their numbers would still be ridiculous.
As the Huskies embark on uncharted territory — or at least as they venture steadfastly into the starkly unfamiliar landscape of the Section 1-AAAA championship round next week — the Bogen sisters have likewise found themselves flying in rarified air.
And by by “rarified,” I mean putting up some eye-catching, head-turning, jaw-dropping, head-spinning numbers. Sami and her younger sister Kendra — a freshman, yes, a freshman — had posted individual stat-lines that would make even that freakish, 6-foot-1, 180-pound Bryce Harper-looking 12-year-old you played against in Little League blush.
Kendra — you know, the one who was planning her junior high graduation at this time last year — has bragging rights in the Bogen household by virtue of her .443 batting average, just barely out-pacing her Sami’s equally-gaudy .406 BA. However, its the older sis who has the edge in doubles by a decent margin (9 to 4) and has struck out eight fewer times despite registering three more bat-bats. She’s also accounted for the only home run from the pair when she launched a go-ahead three-run bomb in the fifth inning in the middle of Owatonna’s 7-6 victory over Rochester Century on Thursday night in the Section 1-AAAA second round.
Kendra, who is the Huskies’ left-handed, gap-slapping, base-burning leadoff batter, is tops on the team with 12 stolen bases and leads the team in runs with 25.
Combined, the Bogens have accumulated a .424 batting average to go with 53 hits — 27 from Kendra and 26 from Sami — and driven-in 31 runs in 20 games.
Not bad for one household.
Owatonna has never participated in the MSHSL state softball tournament.
2 OWATONNA 7, 7 ROCHESTER CENTURY 6
STORYLINE SNAPSHOT: Owatonna overcame a 16-strikeout performance from Century ace Morgan Erickson and four fielding errors to remain undefeated in the postseason heading into the holiday break. Zoie Roush blasted a solo home run in the second inning and finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Izzy Radel reached on an error to start the bottom of the ninth and eventually came around to score the walk-off run.
FROM OHS COACH JEREMY MORAN: “Players from both teams really battled tonight and it was good for us to find a way to come out with a win over a team that is really playing well right now…We had to overcome some errors that we usually don’t have in the field, but in the end we found a way to get the job done tonight. That is what this team has been doing all season and it was good to see them step up again.”
UP NEXT: vs. No. 5 Lakeville North (10-9), Tuesday, May 30, 4 p.m., Section 1-AAAA Final Four. The loser would still have a shot at punching their ticket to the Class AAAA state tournament, but would not only need to bounce back right away and win again at 6 p.m. that same night against the lone remaining opponent in the elimination bracket, but return on June 1 and defeat the winner twice.
OWATONNA RECORD: 15-5 overall (2-0 Section 1-AAAA tournament)
THE HUSKY BULLETIN 
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