Photo by Samantha Davis. Murray County Central’s Thea Schneider throws a pitch in the first game of a doubleheader against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Thursday evening in Tyler. Schneider pitched a total of 19 strikeouts between the Rebels’ two wins.

TYLER — Thea Schneider’s 19 strikeouts helped lead the Murray County Central softball team to a pair of wins in a doubleheader against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Thursday night in two Red Rock Conference matchups. The Rebels took the first game 11-3 followed up with a 14-7 game 2 victory.

“Like I always tell the girls, we can’t look past anybody in our section or conference,” MCC head coach Elissa Wieneke said. “Our area is just tough, and the game of softball is just so unpredictable.”

MCC’s Taylor Larson hit a single home run in the first game, and the Rebels made it a habit to take advantage of RTR errors through the night. The Knights turned things around in the second game, which saw a tie in the fifth inning, until MCC could find its offensive rhythm again to seal the win.

“We were right there in both games and had opportunities, and had the lead in the second game. We just had some things defensively that caused us to give them some extra outs, and when you give good teams extra outs, they’re going to hurt you,” RTR head coach Darren Baartman said. “We’re really working hard to try to find more consistency throughout the course of the game. We’re really young, so some of it is just a learning process, but we’re just working hard to try to get better.”

Schneider and Jaida Fricke both pitched competitive games, nearly in the circle the entire night. Fricke finished with a total 14 strikeouts.

In the first game, Schneider threw 10 strikeouts, four walks, one earned run and three hits, followed up with nine strikeouts, one walk, three earned runs and 10 hits in the second. She pitched the entire first game, and six innings in the second.

“She’s [Schneider] a rock star. You tell her to do something, and she does it,” Wieneke said. “We rely heavily on her, and she is outstanding. She can put the whole team on her back.”

For RTR in game 1, Fricke threw for eight strikeouts and two walks, with one earned run and 12 hits. In game 2, she finished with six strikeouts, four walks, seven earned runs and nine hits. She also pitched the entirety of the first game, and five innings in the second.

“She [Fricke] has thrown well for us all year long. She’s got really good control, and doesn’t walk a lot of people,” coach Baartman said. “What we’ve got to do is be able to do is get those routine outs.”

Overall, RTR finished with eight errors and three hits in game 1, and four errors with 14 hits in the second.

MCC recorded one error and 12 hits in the first, and 11 hits with no errors in game 2.

The Rebels have had a strong start to the season, now winning their fifth and sixth games consecutively.

“It’s all of their hard work. It makes it easy when they come to practice and they’re grinding,” Wieneke said. “We have several goals, and we got that checklist … They’re locked in, and it’s been really fun.”

RTR also recently bounced back from a three-game losing skid prior to Thursday with an 8-7 win over Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Tuesday, behind a two-run Laken Baartman homer in the bottom of the sixth inning.

MCC (8-1) next returns home to face Lakeview on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

RTR (4-10) will look to pick up a win when it hosts Yellow Medicine East at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Game 1

MCC 11, RTR 3

Errors hurt the Knights while the Rebels continued to keep the bats hot and take advantage of extra bases from the jump.

Schneider led MCC’s offense in game 1 with going 4-for-5 at the plate and a team-high two RBIs, along with Larson’s homer.

The Rebels brought in their first run promptly in the first inning, yet RTR took a brief 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.

Baartman and Fricke accounted for the pair of RTR runs, who both initially got on base with a walk.

Baartman made her way to third base after stealing second and went home off a Paisley Thooft bunt, who was safe at first with an overthrown error by MCC to first base. Fricke got the third base off the same play, and scored home with a Payton Johansen sacrifice out to right field.

MCC came out strong for a five-run third inning to gain a 6-2 lead, sparking the Rebels’ offense that continued through the rest of the game.

After Ava Deacon, Emmi Peltola, Schneider and Kate Blankenship all scored runs, all getting on base with a base hit, Larson stepped up to the plate and sent the ball over the center field fence for a single home run, being met by the entire team at home plate after running the diamond.

“Just super proud of her [Larson]. She does a really good job at the plate. She is very selective,” Wieneke said. “It was good to see her get a hold of one.”

RTR scored its final run of the night in the bottom of the third with Fricke running home off a double to left center field from Johansen. Fricke first got on base with a walk.

MCC went on to score another three runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth prior to a final two scoreless innings for both teams to finish the game.

MCC 14, RTR 7

RTR and MCC went after one another through the first several innings and faced a 7-7 tie before the Rebels took control in the bottom of the fifth inning with four runs, and scored three more in their final at-bat while the Knights couldn’t keep their momentum going.

Offensively, both Baartman and Fricke went 4-for-5 at the plate, while Fricke had three RBIs. The two also each hit a double.

For MCC, Deacon led with three hits and a trio of RBIs, while Deacon and Calleigh Doeden also each scored three runs to lead the Rebels as well.

Larson was in the circle for the first inning prior to being relieved by Schneider for the remainder of the game after allowing four earned runs, as Baartman relieved Fricke in the final inning.

RTR built up a 4-0 lead to begin the game after the first two innings, yet MCC continued to chip away to take a 7-6 lead behind a three-run third and four-run fourth inning.

The Knights tied the score up at 7 in the top of the fifth with Baartman running in off a Fricke double line drive to deep center field.

Yet, MCC turned the dial up to hold RTR scoreless the rest of the night while continuing to hit.

“We just needed to regroup,” Wieneke said. “We won’t give up, and that’s what I love about this team.”

The Rebels’ four five-inning runs came from Larson, Doeden, Deacon and Peltola.

Deacon and Peltola both scored from a Schneider single hit to left field for an 11-7 lead.

With Baartman on the mound, MCC got the bases loaded, setting up Larson to run home from third base off a Deacon single base hit.

Doeden and Danyell Nielson accounted for the final two runs of the day, again off loaded bases, with a Peltola grounder to center field.

RTR’s Jenna Lovre and Baartman got on base in the Knights’ final at-bat off a hit by pitch and base hit, respectively. Yet, MCC’s defense was able to hold up with a pair of ground outs and a strikeout to end the night.

“There’s some really good teams in the area this year, some real quality teams,” coach Baartman said. “The competition has been really good, and it’s been good for us to play against those good teams, and hopefully continue to learn to get better.”