The Lake Mills softball team scored its biggest win of the season Monday night against No. 14-ranked Belmond-Klemme with a 1-0, 11-inning epic pitcher’s duel to vault the Bulldogs into a two-way tie for first place in the North Iowa Conference.

Entering the game Lake Mills, Forest City and the Broncos were all tied atop the North Iowa Conference, but the Bulldogs gave Belmond-Klemme its third conference loss of the season and dropped it to second place.

Lake Mills starter Josie Brackey threw an 11-inning shutout against one of the top prep teams in the state to put her team in a first place tie with Forest City. Brackey struck out nine and allowed two hits while walking one in a monumental start for the eighth-grader.

“The whole night they didn’t get a runner past second base,” Bulldogs head coach Stacie Gaskill said. “It was just a matter of time for us to score a run.”

In the 11th senior Sabrina Roll hit a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and stole third base to set the table for senior catcher Whitney Thompson, who delivered a single to the gap in right center for the 1-0 win.

Brackey dueled with Belmond-Klemme starter Shelby Dougherty for all 11 innings. Neither starter allowed a hit until the fifth inning and Dougherty held Lake Mills to just one hit until the 11th inning.

The Bulldogs (19-7 overall, 8-2 NIC) had their best chance to score in the sixth inning when Darcy Nelson tripled, but when leadoff hitter Sammy Nelson hit a grounder to third, the Broncos third baseman faked a threw to first and tagged Darcy Nelson out to end the threat.

Lake Mills couldn’t take advantage of the six errors Belmond-Klemme committed in the game, but limited its own mistakes to secure the win.

“Our defense was so solid,” Gaskill said. “Any ground ball we fielded perfectly.”

The defense came up huge when the Broncos sent a blast to right field that appeared would leave the park, but Sammy Nelson tracked the ball at the fence and made the grab to preserve the shutout.

The Bulldogs were back in action Tuesday against non-conference opponent North Sentral Kossuth and took a step backward after an exciting win Monday.

The Cougars scored two runs in the sixth inning to overtake Lake Mills 4-2.

“We had four errors on the night, that didn’t help matters any,” Gaskill said. “That was a big step backwards.”

North Sentral Kossuth put together three consecutive hits in the sixth to score two runs and take the lead.

The Bulldogs lead 2-0 after the top of the fifth, but mistakes in the field caught up with them in the bottom half of the fifth and sixth inning.

“It was a disappointment because we’ve worked so hard to get those runs, then we make mistakes,” Gaskill said. “We’ve always been in the game, we’ve only been shutout once.”

Brackey threw well again in her second start of the week, going seven full, striking out seven and allowing two runs on three hits.

Lake Mills 1, Belmond-Klemme 0, 11 innings

Belmond-Klemme – 000 000 000 00 – 0 2 6

Lake Mills – 000 000 000 01 – 1 3 3

WP – Josie Brackey 11 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

LP – Shelby Dougherty 11 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

North Sentral Kossuth 4, Lake Mills 2

Lake Mills – 000 020 0 – 2 4 4

North Sentral Kossuth – 000 022 0 – 4 3 4

LP – Josie Brackey 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K