“I thought we started off hitting so well [in game 1], and I was so excited for the girls, but then all of a sudden, we just kind of [slowed down]. We just hit it right at them, and they [YME] played great defense, I got to give them that,” Minneota/Canby head coach Heidi Louwagie said. “Both pitchers pitched great. Our errors kept us in innings [in game 2] and let them [YME] score, so that was a little frustrating and something we talked about. But, Jayla came through with a huge hit that saved us, and Madison closed [them] down, so that was good.”

Tuesday saw a lot of pitching talent between the two teams. Bayli Sneller returns with the Sting this season in her senior-year campaign, YME’s and one of the area’s leading pitchers, as is the same with Hennen, also a senior with Minneota/Canby.

Sneller pitched the entire night in back-to-back complete games.

“I’m proud of her [Bayli Sneller]. I’m proud of her as a mom and proud of her as a coach,” YME head coach Jen Sneller said. “She’s worked hard to earn her spot in that circle and be an area competitor, and definitely she keeps her composure really well for a high school athlete. Incredibly proud of her.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East's Bayli Sneller throws a pitch in the first game of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Tuesday night in Minneota.

Through the Vikings’ first eight games, Hennen has 76 strikeouts. Sneller has also been lights-out with 58 strikeouts in YME’s first five games.

Both coach Sneller and Louwagie complimented the opposing pitcher as well, each crediting their competitiveness and talent.

Sneller and Hennen fought off one another in game 1, both pitching a complete game while allowing limited hits. Hennen finished with 11 strikeouts, no walks and three hits. Sneller threw six strikeouts with no walks, allowing four hits with one earned run.

In the second game, Hennen came in for the save for the final 2 1/3 innings with four strikeouts, allowing five hits and one earned run. Through Sneller’s additional seven innings, she finished game 2 with seven strikeouts, seven hits and three earned runs.

“We had one bad inning per game, and everybody knows you can’t have those. But, the one thing that we asked them coming into game two is [to] keep playing, don’t give up. It’s a new game, start fresh, and they did,” coach Sneller said. “They stepped back into the box with confidence and put the ball in play. We had some aggressive base running. The little things that help keep you in games, they put them together in game two. Unfortunately, just didn’t come out in our favor.”

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota/Canby's Madison Hennen throws a pitch in the first game of a doubleheader against Yellow Medicine East Tuesday night in Minneota.

YME (3-3) will next return home to host Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., while Minneota/Canby (6-3) will head over to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Thursday for another doubleheader, also beginning at 4:30 p.m.

GAME 1

M/C 3, YME 0

Minneota/Canby scored all three of its runs in its first plate appearance in the first inning, as the remainder of the game went pitch-for-pitch and one defensive play after another.

After Hennen pitched a pair of quick strikeouts along with a Vikings’ ground-out to open the game and switch to offense, the Vikings came out with a tenacious baserunning effort to score three runs.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East's Ella Cherveny (right) hi-fives with head coach Jen Sneller (left) after reaching third base in the second game of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Tuesday night in Minneota.

Emily Walker got the bats going with a triple on a hard line drive to deep right field, and quickly ran home after tagging third and running on a sacrifice fly ball to right field from Joelle Otto.

Jerzak then reached base on a double line drive to right field, and ran home from second with the help of an RBI single from Danni Kockelman. The Vikings’ final run then came from Kockelman, who stole home off a YME throwing error when fielding a hit from McKenzie Bednarek.

Both teams were able to get a few hits sporadically through the remainder of the game, but both the Sting’s and Vikings’ strong pitching from Sneller and Hennen didn’t waver, along with both of their efficient defenses behind them.

“There were a lot of shots hit at our third baseman, Izabelle [Hulzebos], and I thought she played well. She ended up with a couple of errors, but with as many as were hit at her, you got to expect it to happen,” Louwagie said. “A few timely catches, but it was a great game. It was a great dual between both teams.”

In YME’s final at-bat in the seventh inning, Alana Almich was able to reach second base with a line-drive double in the gap between center and right field. But, Minneota/Canby held Almich there and finished off the first game with a fly ball catch, a Hennen strikeout and an infield ground-out.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota/Canby's Jayla Jerzak runs in to catch a fly ball in right field in the second game of a doubleheader against Yellow Medicine East Tuesday night in Minneota.

The Vikings had a slight 4-3 hitting advantage over the Sting, while YME committed three errors to Minneota/Canby’s one.

Brianna Nelson led the Sting offensively, going 2 of 3 at the plate. Walker did the same for the Vikings, going 2 for 2.

“It was a fun game … It’s great to play good competition,” Louwagie said. “It’s great to be under that stress, because you have to experience it to get to the next level.”

BOX SCORE

M/C HITTING

Photo by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East's Brianna Nelson throws the ball in after fielding it during the second game of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Tuesday night in Minneota.

E. Walker: 2-2, R; J. Otto: 0-3, RBI; J. Jerzak: 1-3, R; D. Kockelman: 1-3, R, RBI.

M/C PITCHING

M. Hennen: 7 IP, 11 SO, 3H.

YME HITTING

B. Nelson: 2-3; A. Almich: 1-3.

YME PITCHING

B. Sneller: 6 IP, 6 SO, 4H, 3R, ER.

GAME 2

M/C 5, YME 4

Yellow Medicine East rallied in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the score up 3-3 with Minneota/Canby. The Vikings initially scored twice in the fourth with an additional run in the top of the fifth.

The Sting also scored all three runs on two outs. They got the momentum going with loading the bases up between two infield singles, one each from Chasity Schmitz and Everra Leenerts, while Charlotte Paslawski was walked.

Kourtney Peterson stepped up to the plate and hit a crucial two-run RBI single on a hard line drive to left field to score both Paslwaski and Schmitz. Leenert then scored the game-tying run off a Brianna Nelson RBI single that also went out to left field.

Louwagie made the pitching change back to Hennen, relieving Joelle Otto who had the game 2 start.

YME again got bases loaded, but Hennen secured the final out after retiring a batter.

The Vikings and Sting both had moments throughout the final innings of taking advantage of one another’s fielding errors.

Going into the final inning after a scoreless sixth, Otto and Izabelle Hulzebos got on base with a base hit each to set Jerzak up.

Jerzak connected with the ball and sent it to deep right field to send Otto and Hulzebos home, and continued to spring to third base to ultimately give the Vikings the two-run lead, and the win by preventing an extra-inning possibility.

YME was able to score a run in the bottom of the seventh with Peterson scoring on a Sneller RBI single, but a ground-out and two more Hennen strikeouts ended the game.

In the second game, YME had the 9-7 hitting advantage over the Vikings. The Sting had three errors to Minneota/Canby’s two.

Schmitz went 2 for 3 at the plate while Peterson went 2 of 4 with a team-high two RBIs to lead YME’s offense. For the Vikings, Jerzak led the way after going 2 of 4 with a trio of RBIs. Otto also went 2 of 4 and had a team-best two runs.

“We knew that this was going to be our conference competitor this season, and we knew that we had to bring our A-game for seven innings straight. They [Minneota/Canby] historically have hit well, played defense well … We knew whoever made the least amount of errors would be the team that won today,” coach Sneller said. “But, it’s fun. It gets you ready for what’s to come for the rest of the season, and it gives [us] a threshold of what we need to work on.”

BOX SCORE

M/C HITTING

E. Walker: 1-4; J. Otto: 2-4, 2R; I. Hulzebos: 1-3, R; J. Jerzak: 2-4, 3RBI; M Bednarek: 0-1, R, 2BB; C. Antony: 1-3, R.

M/C PITCHING

J. Otto: 4.2 IP, 2 SO, 4H, 3R, BB; M. Hennen: 2.1 IP, 4 SO, 5H, R, ER.

YME HITTING

K. Peterson: 2-4, R, 2RBI; B. Nelson: 1-4, RBI; B. Sneller: 2-4, RBI; A. Almich: 1-4; E. Cherveny: 1-4; C. Schmitz: 2-3, R; C. Redepenning: 2-1, BB; E. Leenerts: 0-3, R.

YME PITCHING

B. Sneller: 7 IP; 7 SO, 7H, 5R, 3ER, 2BB.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota/Canby's Joelle Otto runs home for the go-ahead run in the second game of a doubleheader against Yellow Medicine East Tuesday night in Minneota.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East's Alana Almich takes a swing at a pitch in the second game of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Tuesday night in Minneota.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota/Canby's Izabelle Hulzebos runs home in the final inning during the second game of a doubleheader against Yellow Medicine East Tuesday night in Minneota.