Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota/Canby catcher Emily Walker (center) celebrates with teammate Madison Hennen (right) as she walks back to the dugout after scoring the go-ahead run in the Vikings' non-conference softball game against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Monday in Tyler.

TYLER — Madison Hennen had the Minneota/Canby softball team rolling to victory in its season opener against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Monday afternoon. Hennen was near-perfect in the circle for the Vikings, and the Minneota/Canby bats came up with hits when it mattered to earn a 2-0 win.

“We put a lot of work into practice so that during games, we can be confident. I know that if a ball gets past my catcher and I, that my team’s got my back,” Hennen said. “[Today’s win was about] not giving up when one pitch didn’t go our way, or when we’re at bat and one at-bat didn’t go great, we just stuck with it and it was just the next-man-up mentality.”

Hennen looked right back in midseason form in her opening-day start for the Vikings. She finished the day with 13 strikeouts, limiting the Vikings to just three baserunners in the game via a single, a walk and a fielding error.

The lone RTR single did not come until the seventh inning when Paisley Thooft drove a ball into left field. Still, Hennen responded with three straight strikeouts to close the game.

“When you get a pitcher of her magnitude, you’ve really got to be selective because you might only get one pitch to hit,” RTR head coach Darren Baartman said. “She’d move the ball around, make you chase bad pitches, and at times we swung at a lot of her high stuff.”

Emily Walker scored the go-ahead run for the Vikings with one out in the top of the third. Walker crushed a double to center field to get into scoring position, and Joelle Otto followed up by dropping down a bunt to try to get her to third. Yet, an RTR error on the bunt allowed Walker to sprint all the way home for a 1-0 lead.

Now in her junior season with Minneota/Canby, Walker is taking on a new challenge on the defensive side of the ball this year. After playing outfield last year, Walker played catcher for Minneota/Canby on Monday following the graduation of Kiersyn Hulzebos after last season.

“[My first game at catcher] was good, the umps were great so it definitely made it a lot better, but it was nice,” Walker said. “I had a lot of fun. That [the double] was like my one good hit, it was okay, but it definitely got us all hyped and got us rolling I think.”

The Vikings doubled their advantage one inning later, when McKenzie Bednarek reached base on a fielding error on a pop fly, getting her all the way to second. After stealing third, she scored on a Jayla Jerzak sacrifice fly.

Jaida Fricke also pitched a complete game for RTR, striking out 10 batters while giving up five hits and a walk. Each of the two runs Minneota scored off her was unearned.

“I thought Jaida pitched a really good game,” coach Baartman said. “She’s always around the plate. Even when she gets behind in the count, she finds a way to get herself back or even ahead in the count, and she was able to finish off some goot at-bats off with strikeouts.”

Baartman added that he felt catcher Grace DeVries did a good job of handling her defensive role in her first game as the backstop for the varsity squad.

Jerzak and Otto each had multiple hits in the game, including a double for Jerzak. The two teams combined for two walks on the day.

“It was a good-old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. We made a couple mistakes that led to a couple of runs, and that happens in close games like that, we’ve just got to continue to work hard, get better, take better at-bats and be more aggressive at the plate,” coach Baartman said. “I’m happy with how the girls played.”

Laken Baartman got on base in RTR’s leadoff at-bat when she ran out a pop fly that was dropped in the infield, getting her all the way to second base. She got to third on a sacrifice bunt by Fricke, but a pair of strikeouts left her stranded. RTR did not put a runner on base again until DeVries drew a walk in the sixth.

Minneota/Canby improves to 1-0 on the season and next competes on Tuesday, April 7 in a road game against Pipestone Area at 4 p.m.

RTR looks to bounce back when it heads to Cottonwood for a matchup against Lakeview today at 4:30 p.m.