-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Erin Flattery of St. Edmond attempts a tag Alta/Aurelia Brittany Turnquist on Thursday

The St. Edmond softball team went up against one of the top pitchers in the state here Thursday night in Alta/Aurelia’s Abby Kraemer.

Kraemer, a junior who entered the night ranked second in strikeouts this year, tossed a one-hitter and added 15 more punch-outs to her season total as the fifth-ranked (Class 2A) Warriors claimed a 9-1 victory at Rogers Park.

For the year, Kraemer is now 9-0 with 126 strikeouts this year. She is 64-13 with 889 strikeouts in her career.

“She’s the real deal,” SEHS head coach Nick Clark said. “You could tell that right from the start. But I’ll credit our girls because they continued to battle up there against one of the best in the state (Kraemer was a first team all-stater last year). We had some quality at-bats and were still working hard late in the game.”

Kraemer, who toured the Iowa Central campus during the day, struck the first offensive blow for Alta/Aurelia (9-0 overall), crushing a three-run homer in the opening inning. She finished the game with three RBI and scored twice.

Lily Peterson connected on her 25th career homer in the seventh, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Jessica Flaherty had two hits, including a triple, and Rowan Kolpin had two hits and scored twice.

“They are a very good team,” Clark said. “We knew coming in that it would be a challenge and it was. Our girls were a little rattled after that Kraemer homer, but we worked our way back. The errors (five) hurt us too much to really threaten them.”

Jocy Timmerman broke up Kraemer’s no-hitter in the sixth with an infield single that scored Erin Flattery, who had reached on a walk. Audrey Kolacia drew two of the four walks issued by Kraemer, who struck out the first six batters she faced.

Flattery and Kolacia both had two steals, and Kacey Kruthoff had a walk and a stolen base. The freshman catcher also gunned down two runners at second base on steal attempts. The Warriors were 23-for-24 on stolen bases entering the game.

“We’ll learn from this game and get better,” Clark said. “I know that for a fact. These girls want to be in a position like an Alta/Aurelia and we’ll get there.”

Ninth-grader Ella Vratny scattered nine hits with just three earned runs allowed. She also struck out five against a lineup that had just 20 strikeouts through eight games.

The Gaels return to North Central Conference action on Friday night when they travel to Clarion-Goldfield/Dows. They play in the Van Meter Tournament on Saturday, returning home Wednesday vs. Hampton-Dumont.

ALTA/AURELIA 9, ST. EDMOND 1

Alta/Aurelia 311 010 3 — 9 9 0

St. Edmond 000 001 0 — 1 1 5

Abby Kraemer (W, 9-0, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 15 K, 4 BB) and Lily Peterson; Ella Vratny (L, 7-3, 7 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 2 BB) and Kacey Kruthoff.

HR–AA: Abby Kraemer, Lily Peterson. 3B–AA: Brittany Turnquist, Jessica Flaherty. 2B–AA: Rowan Kolpin. RBI–AA: Lily Peterson (2), Abby Kraemer (3); SE: Jocy Timmerman. SB–SE: Erin Flattery (2), Audrey Kolacia (2), Kacey Kruthoff.