Wabasso Rabbits infielder Sophia Hanna rounds the bases after her game tying home run against KMS on Saturday morning.

MARSHALL– The Wabasso Rabbits softball eight game streak was snapped by the No.1 overall seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg Fighting Saints 13-12 on Saturday morning.

The Wabasso Rabbits got off to a horrible start as the Fighting Saints pit up five runs in the first inning and put the Rabbits in a huge deficit early. Wabasso head coach Tiffany Eichten changed pitchers and went Annabelle Struntz pulling Avery Carlson.

“Struntz has been good for us,” Eichten said. “When she faced her before it took awhile for her to figure her out. We have a strong defense behind her and I felt that it was a move to keep their bats at bay.

However, as they have done all season, Wabasso responded.

In the top of the 2nd inning, the Rabbits would score five runs tying up the game including a three run home by Sophia Hanna. Heading into the 3rd it was five all.

Wabasso would again take advantage of KMS errors in the field and scored two runs off of it in the 5th inning taking a 9-7 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.

The lead expanded to three for Wabasso until the Fighting Saints came back to score four runs taking the lead into the top of the 7th 13-12.

The Rabbits were not done though.

Wabasso put runners at the corners with two outs, and had Callie Burns up to bat. She hit a ball passed the pitchrr but was fielded for an out and KMS advances to the semifinals winning 13-12. Kelsey Frank had four hits and drove in four RBIs. Hanna also drove in four RBIs in the loss and Burns drove in three RBIs. Addisyn Hillesheim had three hits and three runs scored in the contest.

The loss put the Rabbits in the elimination bracket where they would face MCC to advance to Tuesday. Head coach Tiffany Eichten spoke on the team’s performance in loss to a team they defeated just eight days prior.

“I don’t think we showed up to play like we did eight days ago,” Eichten said. “Have to give them credit, they hit the ball but we just weren’t the same team that played them eight days ago. I think we just didn’t do the little things in the game that make a difference and allowed them to score runs. Emotions sometimes can get into the fielding of the game. We just need to get back to playing our game and stay focus, not let our emotions get the best of us.”

Edgerton/SWC 1, YME 0

MARSHALL– The Yellow Medicine East Sting softball team dropped a close contest to the Edgerton/SWC softball team 1-0 on Saturday morning.

Both teams had a struggle generating hits in the ballgame. Starting pitcher Bayli Sneller pitched an incredible game keeping the Flying Dutchmen bats at bay. Most of the game both teams struggled to get runners on but in the bottom of the 8th with the score tied 0-0. Edgerton/SWC got runners on 1st and 3rd with one out.

Sneller pitched the bal and a shot came back up the middle and Sneller couldn’t snag it as the runner advanced to score giving them the victory. Bayli Sneller had 10 strikeouts in the loss and also had a hit. Aria Peters led YME with two hits.

With the loss, YME goes to the elimination bracket and will face the Russell Tyler Ruthton Knights for the third time this season.

The Sting had their chances to score but weren’t able to get any runs across on the board. YME head coach Jennifer Sneller spoke on the loss

“All year long we have consistently shown heart and grit,” Jennifer Sneller said. “Both teams had strong pitchers in this game. We did put the ball on the ball but hit it right to them unfortunately. Defensively, we were making plays. They have nothing to hang their head about. This doesn’t end it for us, it just makes it harder. I am very proud of my team and proud of the growth we have shown throughout the year. Bayli Sneller has found her zone her and catcher Aria Peters have something special. She has been doing a great job of getting to her spots. The communication between Peters and Bayli Sneller has been great as well.”

The Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg Fighting Saints will face off against Edgerton/SWC for a spot on the championship on Tuesday. Loser will face the Winner of the Wabasso Rabbits and Russell Tyler Ruthton Knights.

Elimination bracket games

MCC 16, LQPV 6 (six innings)

MARSHALL– The Murray County Central Rebels softball team didn’t waste any time putting up runs as they dominated the No.2 seeded Lac Qui Parle Valley Eagles 17-6 on Saturday afternoon. The loss ended the season of the Eagles and the win advanced MCC to face off against the Wabasso Rabbits.

After giving up two runs in the first inning, the Rebels came back with an eight run 2nd inning that included a Morgan Winter RBI double, Thea Schneider RBI double, Mary Lou McNab RBI double Atalie Rosenbrook RBI single And a Abbie Winter three run homer giving the Rebels a 8-2 lead after two. The Eagles stormed back by scoring four runs and cutting the deficit to 8-6.

However, that would be the last run scored by LQPV. Winter would homer later in the game and McNab had four hits on the day to help lead MCC to victory over LQPV 17-6. Mcnab finished with three hits and done in three runs. Winter and Jayda Hellewell each had two hits and two RBIs. Lead off hitter Abigale Loosbrock had two hits and drove in three runs including a home run. Emmi Peltola had two hits and also drove in three RBIs in the win The Rebels got back their two key players in Thea Schneider and Mary Lou McNab. Head coach Elissa Wieneke spoke on their return and team’s win.

“We are coming off swinging the bats really good at the end of the season,” Wieneke said. “We had a hitting slump in the middle of our season, made adjustments and this was a good time for it to come through. We just need to keep the bats going because if we didn’t it would have probably turned out a little different. It is great to have our two key players back in Schneider and McNab. Not just because of how great they’re athletically or gifted softball players but also their leadership. I was very glad that they made it back.”

The MCC Rebels scored 16 runs on 13 hits and with the win will face the Wabasso Rabbits to see who will advanced to Tuesday.

RTR 2, Benson 1

MARSHALL– The Russell Tyler Ruthton Knights survived a scare against the Benson Braves in defeating them 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. Kya Alderson threw a complete game and broke the single game strikeout record recording 18 in the victory.

The Knights needed every strikeout Alderson gave them because of the lack of run support given. RTR would score their runs set up by singles from Laken Baartman and Sara Hartson. The Braves would make critical errors on bad throws and the Knights capitalized on scoring two runs.

The Braves would also do the same as they scored their lone run on a bad throw by the infielders of RTR. With a runner aboard in the sixth inning and Benson had the go-ahead run at the plater, Alderson struck out the batter to preserve the lead and had a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game. Alderson spoke on the win and her career high performance.

“My performance was pretty good having 18 strikeouts, which is a RTR record, I’m pretty proud of that,” Alderson said. “Our team performance was pretty good. We were really discipline on the bases. We were struggling with our bats but we got those runs through. The record makes me feel good but I’m happy we won. I feel like I can do better than 18. It is just strikeouts, I don’t put too much on my shoulders. I just let it flow.”

With the win the Knights will face off against the Yellow Medicine East Sting to see who will advance on Tuesday.

Wabasso 17, MCC 0 (four innings)

MARSHALL– After suffering a heartbreaking loss to KMS, the Wabasso Rabbits regrouped and dominated the Murray County Central Rebels 17-0 to eliminate them and advance to Tuesday.

Wabasso started off hot scoring nine runs in the first inning and never looked back. Starting pitcher Avery Carlson threw a complete game and bounced back from her start with Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg Fighting Saints.

The top four hitters in the lineup (Sophia Hanna, Kelsey Frank,Avery Carlson and Sara Carlson) for the Rabbits did a lot of damage in the game. Frank spoke on bounce back win and getting another chance at facing RTR. Frank drove in a game-high four RBIs and had a hit. Macy Rohlik, Struntz and Avery Carlson all had two hits apiece while Rohlik drove in two runs, Struntz and Avery Carlson drove in one. Sara Carlson and Lyla Kittleson each had two RBIs in the victory.

“I think we had a fire lit under our butt,” Frank said. “We lost by one and we had about 20 hits. We wanted to come out hit the ball and prove why we’re a No.2 seed. We want to stay in it. Avery Carlson is very mentally strong. She trusts her defense behind her and she came into this game getting a lot of strikeouts.She was awesome. With us facing the Knights, we want to again prove why were the No.2 seed and were here to stay. We are going to bring it to them, give them some competition, put up a lot of runs and win it.”

The Rebels couldn’t generate the same kind of output that they did against the Eagles. MCC had six hits and five errors committed in the loss. Schneider led the team with two hits. Also Schneider pitched her second consecutive game and it was a gritty effort coming back from injury. The Rabbits would score three and five more runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings to win easily 17-0. Eichten, visibly more happy than the first game, spoke on the team’s win and third time facing the Knights with the season on the line.

“You know we came out really focused,” Eichten said. “We had a little break there and they came ready to hit the ball clearly. Avery Carlson was solid in the circle and the defense was solid too. We wanted to do the little things and play fundamental softball. We have now seen them three times now, so we know what to expect. We have the confidence from how we ended the last game and we’re just going to use that energy.”

With the loss by MCC, their season concludes. Wieneke talked about the game, season, and impact seniors had on the team.

“You know the Wabasso Rabbits are a great team,” Wieneke said. “We just weren’t ready. It was a 4-0 game at one point and then we got down 9-0. It totally changes the game and we needed to show some resilience, fight back but we didn’t have it. Schneider is one of the toughest kids we have on the team. I know she is still injured a little bit but it didn’t have any impact on the outcome of the game. Our seniors (Mary McNab, Alyssa Boerboom, Karissa Hurd, Zoey Iverson, Grace Williams and Briana Engelkes) had an impact for us on and off the field. That’s what I will miss about them the most. Softball is just a game at the end of the day and seeing them in tears gets emotional. They’re going to go on to do great things and we’re going to miss them because of the extra stuff they do in the community. On the off-season we have to continue to put the work in. These girls are dedicated into doing that and I’m excited to see where our program goes.”

RTR 1, YME 0

MARSHALL– The Russell Tyler Ruthton Knights softball team outlasts the Yellow Medicine East Sting 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Knights face off against the Wabasso Rabbits for the third time this season on Tuesday and with the loss YME season ends

It was a pitching duel between two of the best pitchers in the section with Alderson and Bayli Sneller.

Both teams found it hard to score although a lot of runners was left on base. Several times for the Sting they had multiple runners on base but couldn’t drive any of them home as YME didn’t score a single run in both of their losses on Saturday.

The Knights scored their run off of a sacrifice by Alderson, who also pitched another complete game and allowed only one run in both victories on Saturday.

One of the main plays that happened in the game was an overturned call by the umpires. YME was up at bat and hit a ball in the infield, while having the runner on third come home safely and the runner at first was initially called safe RTR head coach Darren Baartman came out to challenge the call and see if the other ref saw something different.

“As far as the play, the reason he called her out because her foot left the bag,” Darren Baartman said. “I have nothing to lose by going out there and appealing it asking the base umpire if he could ask the home umpire if he saw something different. Either way, I was going to be okay with whatever decision was made from that.”

Head coach of YME Jennifer Sneller spoke on what explanation was advocated to her about the call

“The home umpire said to me that her foot was on the base and then the base umpire said that her foot was not on the base,” Jennifer Sneller said. “I could argue all day but that won’t do us any good. I said my peace and told my girls to keep playing and that’s what they did.

Had the call stood the Sting would have tied up the game at one all.

However, the call was overturned and Alderson struck out the next batter to preserve the lead and would do so as the Knights won 1-0.

Darren Baartman spoke on team’s performance, Alderson pitching and facing the Wabasso Rabbits for a third time.

“Runs were difficult to come by out on this field today,” Darren Baartman said.” I think a total of five runs was scored in three games. Defense, pitching became a premium with the way the wind was going today. The bottom line is we got out of some jams, Alderson made enough pitches and we were able to get off the field. Alderson a veteran. She understands the game and how to attack players. Her and Laken Baartman got a real good chemistry, making sure she is hitting her spots. We have played Wabasso twice and they have beaten us twice. Both games both pitchers pitched well. We have thrown the ball all over the place playing them and we absolutely cannot do that against their team.”

With the Sting season ending with two straight 1-0 losses, they have provent to be the best defensive team in the playoffs statistically allowing four runs in four games. An emotional Jennifer Sneller talked about the season, her emerging star pitcher Bayli Sneller and off-season expectations.

“We struggled the first couple of innings stringing some innings together,” Jennifer Sneller said.“RTR has a solid defense, a solid pitcher. The girls played hard, grew all season long. As coaches we are extremely proud of them and we look to carry this over into next season.For any pitcher standing in that circle you put a lot of pressure on them. Lead by example and set the standard for our team that’s what we ask of Bayli to do this season. We have an Eighth-grader and five freshman starting on our team and they all handled it well. Hannah Stark has been a true leader, and been playing for me since the third grade. She is a smart player that understands the game very well. Aria Peters is phenomenal, she is an aggressive catcher and confident in herself. She is going to be incredibly challenging to replace. Atrinity Tipton has grown and build confidence in herself. She started for us in the outfield. Haley Baker was always willing to do whatever we asked her to do. She worked incredibly hard in practice everyday. All four of them will truly be missed. I want this to be the bar every year and I want them to remember this feeling as we head into next year.”