Photo by Samantha Davis. The Yellow Medicine East softball team runs together infield to cheer on Everra Leenerts after making a backwards catch to end an inning against MACCRAY Saturday afternoon in Marshall in a Section 3A elimination game. The Sting defeated the Wolverines 2-0 to advance to the elimination semifinals on Tuesday.

MARSHALL — With its season on the line after a third round loss to top-seeded Wabasso, the No. 2 Yellow Medicine East softball team fought back for a 2-0 win over No. 5 MACCRAY in the Section 3A elimination bracket quarterfinals Saturday afternoon in Marshall to stay in playoff contention.

“I’m so excited for these girls,” YME head coach Jen Sneller said. “We have a pretty young team, so getting them this experience for the years to come is huge. Hopefully they can continue to be super excited and stay in the right mindset, and just keep pushing through.”

The Sting advance to the elimination bracket semifinals with the win, and will face No. 3 Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian on Tuesday. The winner moves on to the elimination final to compete for a spot in the section championship.

YME fell short to Wabasso earlier Saturday afternoon 5-3 after holding a three-run lead for four innings, and MACCRAY defeated No. 2 Murray County Central 6-5 in the elimination bracket first round to face the Sting.

“We came in with high energy this morning [against Wabasso] and with a determined mindset. We had the lead, and we were playing strong, and then as soon as we lost the lead, we definitely got in our own heads instead of playing our game,” coach Sneller said. “We over-thought situations that we didn’t need to overthink. We just talked about that afterwards, that it’s one pitch and one out. You can’t do anything more than one at a time.”

The Sting scored their two runs with one each in the second and sixth inning with minimal defensive mistakes and a strong pitching performance from Bayli Sneller.

Sneller pitched all seven innings, as she also did against Wabasso, and finished with seven strikeouts and one walk while allowing four hits. She threw nine strikeouts against the Rabbits, finishing the day with 16.

“Bayli’s been strong for us all season. She put in a lot of time in the off-season to work on movement and different pitches, and she’s just been able to carry us thus far,” coach Sneller said. “We do put a lot of weight on her shoulders and expect quite a bit out of her, and this year she’s really accepted the challenge.”

YME finished with eight hits and one error, to MACCRAY’s four hits and one error.

Everra Leenerts led offensively going 2 for 3 at the plate, while Charlotte Paslawski had the team’s lone RBI. Alana Almich had the game’s largest hit with a double in the second inning.

Almich accounted for the Sting’s first run after her double line drive to left center field, moving to third base off a Kourtney Peterson sacrifice out and stealing home on a wild pitch.

The Wolverines matched YME’s solid defense through a majority of the game, allowing them to stay within reach.

YME saw an opportunity to extend its lead in the top of the fifth inning with bases loaded and no outs of two hits and a walk, but MACCRAY completed a pair of infield plays along with catcher Ellie Bosch finding a foul ball behind the plate.

Bosch had a good performance catching for MACCRAY, and finished the day with five foul ball catches with two against YME and three against MCC.

“It doesn’t have to be pretty to be a win. That’s what we told the girls … We definitely needed to make adjustments as the game was going on,” coach Sneller said. “We were struggling a little bit in the box, again overthinking things instead of just going in and hitting the ball the way that we know how to hit the ball. We just said, ‘You’re still winning, act like you’re winning.'”

Sneller scored the Sting’s second run for a 2-0 edge, becoming the final score, in the sixth inning off a Paslawski double line drive to center field. Sneller first got on base with an infield single.

Three outs away from moving onto Tuesday with MACCRAY’s final at-bat in the seventh, the Wolverines got one runner on base with a hit by pitch.

But, a sacrifice bunt and two Sneller strikeouts ended the game and prevented MACCRAY from a comeback possibility.

Tuesday’s game is slated for a 4:30 p.m. first pitch at the Marshall Softball Complex.

YME (14-7) and E/SWC (11-8) have not met in the regular season.

“Honestly, we just have to play our game consistently. We just have to continue to have the energy, continue to have the right mindset, continue to stay positive and just be there for each other,” coach Sneller said regarding Tuesday. “If a mistake happens, we need to continue to lift each other up and move past it. Just play the game that we’ve been practicing all season long.”

The Sting started their tournament appearance with a 12-0 win over No. 7 Ortonville, followed by a 2-1 victory against No. 3 ​​Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa before meeting Wabasso.

E/SWC took down Lakeview 15-5 and No. 2 MCC 8-7 prior to a 2-1 loss to Lac qui Parle Valley to drop to the elimination bracket.

YME has already doubled its total wins from just a year prior when its season ended last year in the North subsection second round with a 7-15 overall record.

“Our goal was to do better than we did last year, and we’ve done that already,” coach Sneller said. “We want to keep pushing and see how far we can make it as a team.”