SECTION 3A SOUTH

WABASSO — A year after finishing as the Section 3A runner-up to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, the Wabasso softball team hosted the Knights again on Thursday in the first round of this year’s section tournament. The Rabbits earned the top seed in the south bracket and looked every bit the part, taking down No. 8 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 11-1 in five innings in the first round before defeating No. 4 BOLD 4-0 to enter the weekend still in the winner’s bracket.

Wabasso improves to 16-6 with the win and takes on No. 3 Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian in the section quarterfinals at the Marshall Softball Complex on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton finishes its season at 7-14 just a year after going to the state tournament. Still, their exceptionally young team does not feature any seniors and will bring back its full squad next season.

No. 1 Wabasso 11,

No. 8 RTR 1 (5 inn.)

Aylah Jenniges shined in the circle for the Wabasso softball team on Thursday as they opened their postseason with an 11-1 win over RTR. Jenniges threw all five innings of the mercy-rule win, striking out three batters while giving up one earned run on four hits and a walk. She also led the team offensively with a double, a single and a walk for two RBIs.

After a scoreless first two innings, RTR scored its lone run of the day when Laken Baartman hit a solo home run to center field to give the Knights a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. The lead didn’t last long, however, as Wabasso responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame and never looked back.

Delaina Eis gave Wabasso its first run of the day when she led off the third with a walk and scored on an Audrey Johnson single. Jenniges followed up with another RBI single before a Macy Rohlik single and a Sara Carlson walk loaded the bases with one out, and a sacrifice fly from Kayleigha Johnson and a two-run double from Camryn Irlbeck gave the Rabbits a 5-1 lead.

Baartman finished the day with a home run and a double to account for half of RTR’s four hits and six of its eight total bases. She also drew the lone walk of the day for the Knights.

Rohlik finished with a double and a single for Wabasso while Johnson added another pair of singles.

Jaida Fricke pitched all 4 2/3 innings for RTR, giving up six earned and five unearned runs on 10 hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts.

Wabasso continued to tack on runs in the fourth. Peyton Jenniges reached on an error with one out before scoring on a Johnson single, and Aylah Jenniges doubled in Johnson. Rohlik and Johnson each drove in a run on a double and a single, respectively, to bring the score to 9-1.

Eis singled in the fifth before scoring when Peyton Jenniges and Johnson reached on consecutive errors. Rohlik then hit a sacrifice fly to score Jenniges for the game-sealing run.

No. 1 Wabasso 4,

No. 4 BOLD 0

In her second pitching outing of the day, Aylah Jenniges pitched a complete-game shutout for the Wabasso softball team as the Rabbits advanced to the 3A quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over No. 4 BOLD.

Jenniges struck out six batters over her seven innings in the circle, limiting BOLD to two hits and a walk on the day.

The two teams were deadlocked in a scoreless tie until the fourth inning. Kayleigha Johnson walked to start the frame, advanced to third when Camryn Irlbeck reached on an error and Alivia Olson grounded out, and scored when Delaina Eis hit a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run.

Jenniges led the Rabbits with two singles in the game while Olson, Eis and Macy Rohlik each contributed another. 

The Rabbits gave themselves some breathing room with a three-run fifth inning. Jenniges singled before scoring when Rohlik reached on an error, and Rohlik scored on another error when Sara Carlson reached base on a sacrifice bunt. Irlbeck also reached base on the third BOLD error of the inning, driving in Carlson for the game’s final run.

SECTION 3A NORTH

Granite Falls region

GRANITE FALLS — Ella Cherveny’s late-game heroics at the plate and consistent pitching from Bayli Sneller helped the Yellow Medicine East softball team claim a pair of wins in the opening day of the Section 3A tournament on Thursday. Sneller threw a shutout while Alana Almich racked up six total bases in the first game of the postseason, a 12-0 win over No. 7 Ortonville in the first round, while Ella Cherveny came up with a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh to walk off No. 3 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 2-1 to escape the day unscathed.

Yellow Medicine East will take on top-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley in the section quarterfinals at the Marshall Softball Complex on Saturday at 11 a.m.

No. 2 YME 12,

No. 7 Ortonville 0 (5 inn.)

Bayli Sneller threw all five innings of YME’s shutout effort against Ortonville in the first round of the 3A tournament on Thursday. She struck out nine batters while limiting the Trojans to one hit and no walks in the 12-0 win.

YME got on the scoreboard early when Alana Almich doubled in Brianna Nelson with two outs in the first, and added another run in the second when three consecutive singles from Charlotte Paslawski, Everra Leenerts and Brianna Nelson scored Paslawski.

Almich, Kourtney Peterson and Brianna Nelson each finished with three hits for the Sting. Almich led the team with three doubles and three RBIs, while Nelson drove in three runs on a double and two singles while Peterson finished with two RBIs on a double and two singles. Ella Cherveny also logged a double and a single for three RBIs.

The Sting started to pull away in the third inning with five runs. Almich and Peterson doubled back-to-back to start the inning, scoring Almich, and a single from Bailey Mortenson put runners on the corners with one out.

Leenerts walked to load the bases with two outs before a walk to Nelson forced in the frame’s second run, and Cherveny smashed a three-run double to make the score 7-0.

Sneller was hit by a pitch and Almich doubled to put two runners in scoring position to start the fourth and Peterson singled in Sneller. An Emma Keller walk loaded the bases, and a two-run single from Paslawski, a RBI ground out from Leenerts and an RBI single from Nelson made the score 12-0 to bring the mercy rule into play.

No. 2 YME 12,

No. 3 BBE 1

The Sting trailed 1-0 heading into the seventh inning of its second-round matchup against Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa when the YME batters came up with clutch hits. Everra Leenerts and Brianna Nelson each singled to put runners on first and second with one out, and Cherveny stepped up with a fly ball to left field for a two-run walk-off double.

The Sting finished with nine hits to BBE’s three. Nelson and Leenerts each singled twice for YME while Cherveny and Bayli Sneller each doubled. Leenerts also drew the lone walk of the game for the Sting.

Sneller pitched all seven innings for the Sting, striking out nine batters while giving up three hits and a walk.

BBE’s lone run was unearned in the third inning. With two outs, a single and an error put runners on the corners and another single drove in a go-ahead run.

Madison region

MADISON — The Dawson-Boyd softball team’s 12-10 edge in hits wasn’t enough to stage an upset against Lac qui Parle Valley in the first round of the Section 3A tournament on Thursday. The eighth-seeded Blackjacks weren’t able to get on the scoreboard until the sixth inning, facing a 6-0 deficit, and fell 8-2 to the top-seeded Eagles.

Dawson-Boyd finishes its season at 2-15 and graduates three seniors in Natyah Ritter, Madalyn Wente and Elsie Wiebe.

No. 1 LQPV 8,

No. 8 Dawson-Boyd 2

Alivia Estling, Shay Bothun, Rylin Viessman and Madalyn Wente each came up big for the Blackjacks offensively with two hits in the 8-2 loss to Lac qui Parle Valley. Elsie Wiebe also accounted for Dawson-Boyd’s lone extra-base hit.

Trailing 6-0 in the top of the sixth, Lauren Lee was hit by a pitch and Kadyn Perkins singled before Estling hit an RBI single to put the Blackjacks on the board. A double play put two away, including the out at home, but Wiebe hit an RBI double to cut the deficit to four runs before the Eagles responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.

Bothun pitched the first 5 2/3 innings for Dawson-Boyd, allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Perkins struck out the lone batter she faced to close out the game.

SECTION 3AA

NO. 5 Minneota/Canby 1

JACKSON — The Minneota/Canby softball team struggled in the plate in its postseason opener against Windom on Thursday. The fifth-seeded Vikings strung together seven hits to the Eagles’ five, but the timing of Windom’s hits left the fourth-seeded Eagles with a 6-1 win to end Minneota’s season.

The Vikings finish the year at 17-4 and graduate a pair of seniors in Kiersyn Hulzebos and Dakota Pesch.

All six of Windom’s runs came in the bottom of the second, when the Eagles strung together a double, three singles, two walks and a hit batter to generate all of the offensive production necessary for the win.

Madison Hennen was charged with the loss for Minneota/Canby, giving up six earned runs on five hits and eight walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.

Danni Kockelman led the Vikings at the plate with a pair of singles, while five other players recorded one single.

Kockelman scored the Vikings’ lone run in the top of the fifth when she hit a leadoff single and scored ona Kiersyn Hulzebos single with two outs.

SECTION 2A

No. 11 RRC/WWG 5