Photo by Chris Drummond RTR Knights Kya Alderson waits for the signal to throw in a pitch game one of a doubleheader against the Lakers on tuesday afternoon. The Knights swept the lakers winning 16-0 in game one and 15-0 in game two.

COTTONWOOD– The Russell Tyler Ruthton Knights softball team defeated the Lakeview Lakers in a doubleheader 16-0 in game one and 15-0 in game two on Tuesday evening to improve to 3-0 on the young season. Kya Alderson pitched complete games for both contests and the Knights only had to go four innings each time.

In the first inning, catcher Laken Baartman hit her first home run of the season and drove in five runs in the victory. Baartman would later get a triple as well.

“It’s early in the season but it was good to see us out swinging at good pitches and getting hits,” Baartman said. “Alderson is an absolute beast. She only gave up a few hits in two games and had great control. Moving forward we want to work on our defense and eliminate mental mistakes.”

The Knights scored runs in every inning of play in the first game and Kya Alderson pitched a complete game shutout allowing only one hit and striking out 11 batters. Alderson also did damage at the plate by getting three hits and driving in three runs

The Lakers were unable to build any kind of offensive rhythm and made numerous amount of errors on the field contributing to the Knights’ runs. The Lakers had one hit but committed four errors in the loss.

The Knights scored five runs in the first, three runs in the second, and four apiece in the third and fourth innings to win 16-0.

Gabi Borresen for the Knights had three hits in the ballgames and drove in two runs. Borresen, Baartman, and Alderson combined for eight of the 11 hits total by the Knights.

In game two, the Lakers wouldn’t fare any better.

The Knights came out and scored five runs in the first inning of the game behind a two-RBI single by Baartman. Baartman would go on to go 2-4 with a double and three RBIs in the victory. She would have eight RBIs combined in both games.

Alderson pitched a complete game again and struck out 10 batters and allowed just one hit giving her a total of 21 strikeouts in two games.

Alderson also had two more hits and drove in two more runs in the victory.

“We did what we need to do,” Knights head coach Darren Baartman said. “I thought we pitched and caught the ball well. We had great plate discipline. We talked about baserunning in practice. We want the girls to get a good read on things. One thing I tell the girls is that you’re never wrong when you hustle.

“As you score runs and do not give up runs, that’s a natural part of the game, the run rule. It is nice to close both games out and not go the full game. Lakeview has great coaches in Chelsey May and Cassie Evans but they’re very young. They are going to do a great job at Lakeview. The girls play hard for them. We just want to continue to keep getting better. We need to continue to do the things we do well. We need to make the easy plays and not give any extra outs.”

The RTR Knights (3-0) will host the Lac Qui Parle Valley Eagles on Thursday evening as the Lakeview Lakers (0-2) will host the Renville County West/B.O.L.D. softball team.

Both games’ first pitch is at 4:30 p.m.