DAWSON — Emily Walker tallied four RBIs on a home run, a triple and two walks for the Minneota/Canby softball team in its Camden Conference matchup against Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday. The sophomore left fielder jumpstarted the Vikings’ offense in the second inning and they cruised from there to a 13-0 win.

Walker drove in the game’s first runs in the second inning after a pair of doubles from Madison Hennen and Dakota Pesch put runners on second and third, and Walker drove them both in with a triple. Walker then went on to score on a Jayla Jerzak single, and Jerzak scored on a passed ball.

Minneota/Canby held a 7-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh, but the offense continued to explode. Pesch led the inning off with a walk and Walker followed up with an inside-the-park two-run home run.

McKenzie Bednarek singled and Gretta Buysse walked to put two runners on. Courtney Antony singled to drive in one run, a walk to Kiersyn Hulzebos loaded the bases, and a two-run single by Joelle Otto and a passed ball allowed Minneota/Canby to claim a 13-0 advantage.

Hennen pitched all seven innings for Minneota/Canby, striking out 16 of the 22 batters she faced. She limited the Blackjacks to one single and one walk on the day, and was perfect through 3 2/3 innings before a dropped third strike allowed Kadyn Perkins to reach base.

Natyah Ritter accounted for Dawson-Boyd’s lone hit, a single with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Yet, she was caught stealing to end the frame. The Blackjacks’ lone other base runner came when Macy Moen drew a walk in the seventh.

Shay Bothun pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for Dawson-Boyd, allowing six earned runs on eight hits and three walks. Perkins threw another 1 2/3 frames, giving up seven earned runs on six hits and three walks, while Madalyn Wente got the final two outs with a pair of strikeouts.

Minneota/Canby scored a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take a 7-0 lead. Hulzebos hit an RBI single to score Jerzak in the fourth, Pesch doubled before scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth and Buysse singled before scoring on an Otto ground out in the sixth.

Minneota/Canby improves to 13-1 with the win and is riding an 11-game win streak. The Vikings will look to carry that momentum into their next game against MACCRAY in Raymond at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Dawson-Boyd falls to 108 on the season and will look to get back in the win column when it heads to Murdock for a matchup against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

GAME 1

YME 3, TMB 1

GRANITE FALLS — The Yellow Medicine East softball team overcame four defensive errors in the first game of its Camden Conference doubleheader against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Tuesday to keep the Panthers’ offense at bay. The Sting scored three third-inning runs to surge ahead and never looked back, defeating the Panthers 3-1.

YME trailed by a run heading into the fourth, but a pair of walks to Bayli Sneller and Kourtney Peterson and a single by Alana Almich in between loaded up the bases with no outs. Emma Keller singled in Sneller to tie up the game, Chasity Schmitz battled her way to a walk to force in the go-ahead run and Nelson drew another walk with two outs to give the Sting a two-run cushion.

Sneller ensured that the Sting’s fourth-inning offensive outburst was all the team would need for a win. The junior pitcher threw all seven innings for YME, striking out eight batters while allowing one unearned run on three hits and a walk.

The Panthers’ lone run came in the bottom of the third when Melaina Ankrum stepped up to the plate with two outs and hit a triple. A YME error on the play allowed Ankrum to stretch the play further and run home for a go-ahead run.

Gretchen Lanoue pitched the complete game for TMB, giving up three earned runs on eight walks and five hits with four strikeouts.

Peterson and Keller each had a pair of hits for YME, with Peterson also earning a pair of walks, while Ankrum logged a pair of hits for the Panthers.

YME 12, TMB 1

GRANITE FALLS — Coming off a pitcher’s duel in the first game of Tuesday’s Camden Conference doubleheader, the Yellow Medicine East softball team’s bats got active early in its second game against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton. The Sting plated eight second-inning runs to pull away for a 12-1 win in five innings.

Ella Cherveny led the YME hitters in the game with a pair of doubles for two RBIs. Emma Keller also singled twice for a pair of RBIs while Charlotte Paslawski drew two walks and was hit by a pitch with two RBIs.

The game was tied at one run apiece when consecutive singles by Kourtney Peterson and Keller and a walk to Everra Leenerts loaded the bases with no outs. Paslawski was hit by a pitch to force in the go-ahead run and Riley Haar walked to push across another before a 1-2-3 double play put two away. 

With two outs, the Sting continued to rally. Cherveny hit a two-run double, walks to Bayli Sneller and Alana Almich reloaded the bases and a wild pitch scored Cherveny. Keller then hit a two-run single and walks to Leenerts and Paslawski forced in another run for the Sting to make the score 9-1.

Sneller pitched all five innings for YME in the win, striking out six batters while allowing five hits and a pair of walks.

Melaina Ankrum scored the Panthers’ lone run when she hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on a wild pitch and passed ball, and scored on an Aliyah Loftness single with two outs. Yet, TMB’s lead was short-lived as Cherveny doubled and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game in the bottom of the frame.

Gretchen Lanoue threw the first 1 2/3 innings for TMB, giving up nine earned runs on five hits and five walks. Ankrum also allowed three earned runs on a hit and six walks over 2 1/3  frames.

Brianna Nelson hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth, scoring Keller and Paslawski on the play.

Yellow Medicine East jumps above .500 to 6-5 on the year with the sweep, and the Sting will look to carry that momentum into their road doubleheader against Renville County West on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton falls to 5-5 on the season and next hosts Ortonville on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

A/E 12, RTR 2

TYLER — Although taking a brief 2-1 lead after the first inning, the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton softball team struggled to find an answer to Adrian-Ellsworth in a 12-2 five-inning loss Tuesday night in Tyler.

The Knights scored their two runs in the bottom of the first inning with Baartman running home off a Jaida Fricke hard line drive double to left field, with Fricke eventually scoring from third base off a Payton Johansen single base hit.

Both Fricke and Taylin Thooft had a double on the night.

From there, A/E continued to make contact at the plate with the ball, including a five-run third inning, and didn’t allow RTR to find its rhythm again.

RTR finished with four hits and two errors, to A/E’s 16 hits and one error.

Fricke pitched all five innings, and finished with four strikeouts and one walk.

RTR (5-11) will next look to turn things around when it hosts Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch.