Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota/Canby shortstop Danni Kockelman slides into home plate during the first game of a Camden Conference doubleheader against Lakeview on Friday in Cottonwood.

COTTONWOOD — The Minneota/Canby softball team continued its hot start to the season with a doubleheader sweep of Lakeview in Camden Conference play on Friday. The Vikings won the first game 8-1 behind the pitching of Madison Hennen and held off a late Laker rally for a 5-3 win in the nightcap.

The pair of victories extend the Vikings’ winning streak to 10 games now, dating back to April 12 when they lost 4-0 to Morris.

Hennen pitched a total of 11 innings with 21 strikeouts across the two games, earning a win and a save in the circle. Joelle Otto pitched the first three innings of the second game to earn the win on the mound for Minneota/Canby and also logged a team-leading four hits across the two games.

“We’ve had some great pitching out of Madison and Joelle,” Minneota/Canby head coach Heidi Louwagie said. “We’ve had some great base running. When we get on, we try to make things happen. The one thing that’s kind of been our Achilles heel right now has been our hitting, and I think our girls are so hard on themselves, they want it so bad that they just get tense in the box, so that’s one thing we’ve been working on.”

Emily Walker was the game’s premier hitter, however, hitting two triples and a single to drive in a game-high five runs for Minneota/Canby.

Avery Hinz pitched a complete game for the Lakers in the second matchup, striking out eight batters over six innings, while Teagan Fiene was charged with the loss in the first game after pitching the first four innings before being relieved by Makenna Anderson.

Taylor Hinz led Lakeview with three hits on the day while Kiara Hinz, Fiene and Khya Gawarecki each added another pair of hits.

Now 12-1 on the season, the Minneota/Canby softball team next goes on the road to take on Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Lakeview falls to 3-8 with the sweep and heads to Slayton for its next game against Murray County Central on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

GAME 1

Lakeview 1

Hennen’s pitching dominance headlined the Vikings’ success in the day’s first game. Over seven innings, Hennen struck out 13 batters while limiting Lakeview to three hits and a wakl. She also had a single as a batter.

“She’s one heck of a strong pitcher, and the duo with her and Kiersyn — they call their pitches, they call their games — they’re just an amazing pair to work together,” Louwagie said. “I put all the trust in both of them to do what they need to do to make things happen. But credit to Lakeview, those slappers were good.”

Courtney Antony scored Minneota/Canby’s go-ahead run when she drew a walk and then scored on a Walker single with two outs.

The Vikings solidified their lead in the fourth when Dakota Pesch walked before scoring on a Walker triple, and Walker scored on a Danni Kockelman single. Another double from Jayla Jerzak followed by a failed pickoff attempt at third allowed Kockelman to score for a 4-0 Minneota advantage. 

“We know they’re a solid hitting team and you’ve got to give it to them, they’re a good team all the way around,” Stibbe said of Minneota/Canby. “We’re a good defensive team when we’re playing. We know we need to play at a higher level when we’re playing against these guys, that’s what we came here to do, limit our errors and limit their runs.”

Fiene pitched the game’s first four innings for the Lakers while Anderson pitched the last four. Each of the two pitchers gave up four runs and two walks with two strikeouts. Fiene allowed nine hits and Anderson allowed six.

The lone Laker run came in the bottom of the seventh with one out, when Fiene walked, advanced to third on a Morgan Velde double and scored on a Makenzie Herrick grounder. Yet, Minneota limited the damage by fielding that ground ball for a double play, getting the out at first before getting another runner in a run-down between second and third.

The Vikings’ bats got rolling in the top of the seventh. Otto started the frame with a walk before scoring on an Antony double, and Pesch singled before Walker hit a two-run triple. Another RBi single from Kockelman made the score 8-0. 

Lakeview 3

Minneota/Canby carried a 5-1 lead into the final frame when the Lakeview bats started to click. Fiene singled and Velde walked to start the frame before a strikeout and a fielder’s choice put runners in scoring position with two outs. 

Gawarecki also singled to load up the bases after the Vikings held up the runner at first, and Taylor Hinz hit a two-run double to make the score 5-3 with the tying run on second and the go-ahead run at the plate for Lakeview. Yet, Minneota/Canby catcher Kiersyn Hulzebos fielded a shallow pop out to end the game.

“We’ve been talking a lot about needing to string our hits together, and once we’re doing that, we’ve just got to move those base runners,” Stibbe said. “That last part we didn’t quite get to today, but we’re putting people on base and we need to keep moving them around.”

Minneota/Canby got nearly all the offense it needed in the first inning. Hulzebos led off the frame by beating out a ground ball single. After advancing to second, she scored on a Otto single into the outfield for the game’s go-ahead run. A Hennen walk and an Antony single loaded the bases, and Otto scored on a failed pickoff attempt at third before Walker hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Hennen for Walker’s fifth RBI of the doubleheader and a 3-0 Viking lead.

Otto pitched the game’s first three scoreless innings before being pulled for Hennen with two runners on in the fourth. Hennen got out of the jam with consecutive strikeouts to escape the inning unscathed. Otto finished the day with five hits and two walks allowed over her three scoreless innings, while Hennen gave up three earned runs on four hits and three walks over 3 2/3. Otto also struck out a pair of batters while Hennen struck out eight.

Lakeview scored its first run trailing 3-0 in the top of the fifth. Kiara Hinz drew a walk, stole her way to second, and eventually scored on a Minneota error to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Avery Hinz went all six innings for Lakeview in the circle, striking out eight batters while giving up five earned runs on eight hits and nine walks. 

“It’s one pitch at a time for her,” Stibbe said of Hinz. “She’s not letting things get to her, she’s going to come back. There are plenty of times she was down with a three-oh count and she came back. Most of the time, she was striking those batters out, if not getting them to ground out and getting them out on the bases, so it’s mind over matter there.”

With two outs in the sixth, Otto singled and Hennen walked to put two runners on when Antony hit a two-run triple to bring the Vikings’ lead to its apex.

Otto and Antony each finished the game with two hits and a walk for Minneota, while Hennen walked three times.