“It feels amazing, it was a beautiful home opener,” Lakeview senior Teegan Fiene said. “10-run rule, nothing can get better, really … I think we came out ready to play, which last year we didn’t always do. So, it’s nice to work as a team, string our bats together and just get it done.”

The Lakers had contagious hitting and effective baserunning for a seven-run third inning to take a quick lead, and maintained the momentum the rest of the way.

Lakeview outhit MCC 7-3, and committed no errors to the Rebels’ four. Kyha Gawarecki led the way offensively for the Lakers with a game-high four RBIs on two hits. Anderson also had a pair of hits.

For MCC, Ava Deacon, Charlie Paulzine and Reese Wajer each had a hit. Paulzine was also the starting pitcher, striking out a pair of batters with five walks and five hits in her three innings pitched. Kate Blankenship pitched the final two innings, throwing two strikeouts while allowing two hits.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Lakeview's Kiara Hinz smiles after stealing second base against Murray County Central Monday night in the season opener in Cottonwood.

“The focus part of it [is what we can take away from this game]. In practice, if you make a mistake, you settle back down and you get back into it. Whereas we’re in a game, boom, you’re going right to the next play, and you got to forget the one, get on to the next one,” MCC head coach Joel Herrig said. “And, just the speed and the tempo of the game is different than a practice. You come up to the plate, you’re getting up and you’re taking your cuts and stuff, you got to be ready to go.”

With a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of third, a three-run RBI double to center field from Gawarecki highlighted the Lakers’ rally, scoring Anderson, Emma Brusven and Taylor Hinz. Gawarecki then stole third on the same play, and ran home on a passed ball in the next at-bat to extend the lead, with no outs.

Kiara Hinz had another RBI to drive in Avery Hinz, just as Adison Hinz got to running and stole second, third and home all on the same play off an MCC fielding and throwing error after a Fiene hit. Fiene also advanced to third off the same error.

Morgan Velde also scored on a passed ball in the inning for a 9-0 Lakers’ lead, before Wajer at second base put together a double play for MCC with a pop-fly catch and threw back to first for a force out on Lakeview.

After Anderson threw a pair of strikeouts in the first inning to get Lakeview started defensively, she also got the offense going in Lakeview’s first at-bat with a two-run RBI that ran in both Brusven and Adison Hinz in the bottom of the first.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central's Calleigh Doeden swings at a pitch against Lakeview Monday night in the season opener in Cottonwood.

Anderson threw another two strikeouts in the top of the fourth to put the Lakers right back at the plate, ultimately adding another two runs for an 11-0 edge.

“I loved it [our pitching]. Kenna does such a good job. She’s so consistent up there, which is good,” Fiene said of Anderson’s pitching performance. “Without pitching, it’s hard to do much. We rely on her, and she relies on us, so yeah, it was all-around great.”

Gawarecki hit a triple to deep left field just before the fence that ran in Anderson, as Gawarecki found her way around the bases next with an Avery Hinz sacrifice.

“That’s what we always preach in practice, is we want to be aggressive and always looking to the next base, always looking to score,” Fiene said of Lakeview’s baserunning. “I think we did a great job of that, always getting to the next base and always trying to push our limits.”

Despite the loss, MCC saw moments of strong defensive plays that the Rebels will look to build upon. Today was also one of the first times teams were able to get action outside, due to the recent colder weather.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Lakeview's Makenna Anderson throws a pitch against Murray County Central Monday night in the season opener in Cottonwood.

“It’s strange to open on a 70-degree day instead of 45 and windy, but it’s nice to just be outside,” Herrig said of opening the season, laughing. “It’s always tough the first couple games, because you’re used to practicing indoors, and all of a sudden you get to be outside and comfortable, so that part is great. Obviously, we would like to play a little bit better, but we got a really nice pitching performance. We struggled to adjust to the speed when we were at the plate, and we had a couple miscues.”

Herrig is in his first year at the helm of the Rebels’ program after previously serving on the softball staff as an assistant under Elissa Wieneke last year.

Along with a core group of returners, MCC will be looking to find a new replacement in the circle this season after graduating starting pitcher Thea Schneider. She finished last year with a 2.50 ERA with 157 strikeouts in her 131 innings pitched last year. The Rebels went 14-7 last season.

“It’s kind of a rebuilding [year in pitching]. That’s why we are hoping to get three innings from each [player], and just see it goes,” Herrig said. “We have a senior that doesn’t have a lot of experience pitching, but she was an All-State shortstop [Blankenship], so it’s like we’re trying to bring the younger player along, too. But, just too many balls early, which set up hitting counts and [Lakeview] took advantage.”

Blankenship, Paulzine and Jaelyn Bitker are the potential rotating pitchers for the Rebels this season.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Murray County Central outfielder Danyel Neilson throws the ball back in after a hit against Lakeview Monday night in the season opener in Cottonwood.

The Lakers, who finished last year 10-11 overall, also return a core group this season as they look to continue building.

“I’m just looking forward to my last season and having fun with my friends,” Fiene said. “It doesn’t feel like we have to learn so much, we can just strengthen what we already know and get better.”

Lakeview (1-0) will return back to the field today to host Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (0-1) with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch.

MCC (0-1) will next travel to Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey next Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The Rebels’ home opener is slated for next Thursday against Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda with a 4:30 p.m. start time.