Walker had two of her doubles in the second game, one of which she was also able to get home on following a Panthers’ defensive error. Madison Hennen also pitched nearly the entire night, all but one inning, and finished with 16 total strikeouts.

“I think we did really good. I think when the wind started blowing [in game 2], we got a little down on ourselves, a little down in the dumps,” Walker said. “But, then we came back … We came alive and we were all over it.”

TMB’s Melaina Ankrum also had a big two-run homer in the first inning of the second game.

Hennen pitched a complete first game, tossing six strikeouts with no walks or runs with four hits. TMB’s Gretchen Lanoue and Ankrum tossed two innings a piece, with Ankrum throwing one strikeouts while allowing two walks and four hits. Lanoue finished her time with seven hits and three walks.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota/Canby's Jayla Jerzak catches a fly ball at first base in the first of a doubleheader against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Thursday night in Tracy.

Lanoue powered through the second game, pitching the entire time, and retired four batters while allowing 10 hits and 10 walks. Hennen was in the circle for six innings, finishing with 10 strikeouts, four hits and four walks.

“The second game, we fought back and tied it at 9-9 … But, we’ve got to do a better job of making adjustments on the fly in pretty much every area. We were just talking about some of that,” TMB head coach Karl Campbell said. “We’re really good if we’re in a routine and everything’s normal. But, [we have to improve when] you have to make adjustments to a pitcher, specifically, them changing speeds, or we have to make adjustments because they have picked up on our signs or picked up on our first and third defense. We tried to do that, and not everybody was on the same page.”

Minneota/Canby (8-3) will host Montevideo on Friday at 4:30 p.m., and will play the game at Canby High School.

TMB (4-3) will return to the field on Monday when it travels to Adrian-Ellsworth on Monday with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch.

GAME 1

Photo by Samantha Davis: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Gretchen Lanoue throws a pitch in the first of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Thursday night in Tracy.

M/C 10, TMB 0 (5 inn.)

Following a scoreless opening for both Minneota/Canby and TMB, the Vikings got their offense rolling with four runs in each the second and third innings to take a quick 8-0 lead.

The Panthers did get into scoring position in their first two plate appearances. Aliyah Loftness got to third base in the second inning after initially hitting a single, as did Braelynn Kirk in the first inning who also had a base hit.

Kirk played a strong game at shortstop, including three consecutive ground-out plays made in a row between the first and second innings.

The Vikings got the bases loaded to start their second-inning rally in the bottom of the frame. Gretta Buysse occupied first, with Izabelle Hulzebos on second and McKenzie Bednarek on third. Bednarek was originally walked, while Hulzebos and Buysse had singles.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Melaina Ankrum steps up to the plate in the first of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Thursday night in Tracy.

Taryn Myrvik was walked, automatically giving Bednarek home and the Vikings’ first run. Hennen then hit a single on a fly ball to run in Hulzebos, while Walker then drilled a two-run RBI double to deep center field that allowed Hennen and Allison VanWatermeulen to score before TMB wrapped up the inning defensively.

“It felt really good. I think once we adjusted to the type of pitcher we had, we had a bunch of really good hits. The wind definitely helped carry some, but it was good,” Walker said, laughing, of her big hitting night.

Vanwatermeulen was also walked to initially reach base.

Minneota/Canby did much of the same in its next at-bat in the third inning to essentially bring its lead to mercy-rule territory.

Courtney Antony hit an infield single, and then stole both second and third base on the same play following a Panthers’ throwing error. Jayla Jerzak then singled on a hard ground ball to short left field to score Antony.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota/Canby's Joelle Otto throws the ball in after fielding it in the outfield in the first of a doubleheader against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Thursday night in Tracy.

Bednarek stepped up to the plate and hit an RBI triple on a line drive to deep left field, allowing Jerzak to score. The hitting was contagious between the Vikings, as Hulzebos also sent the ball to left field in the next at-bat to bring Bednarek home.

Walker also noted that the energy was felt between the team on the offensive end to keep the hitting momentum going.

Hulzebos eventually was able to get home as well on an RBI single from Walker to put the Vikings up eight.

The Vikings scored once more in the fourth and fifth innings, from Bednarek scoring on a Hulzebos RBI in the fourth and Vanwatermeulen doing the same off a Hennen single, to end the game with the run-rule.

Hulzebos went a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with two runs and two RBIs, while Bednarek also had a trio of runs and went 2 for 2 at the plate.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Braelynn Kirk throws to first base after fielding the ball at shortstop in the first of a doubleheader against Minneota/Canby Thursday night in Tracy.

BOX SCORE

M/C HITTING

E. Walker: 1-3, 3RBI; C. Antony: 2-2, R, BB; J. Jerzak: 1-3, R, RBI; M. Bednarek: 2-2, 3R, BB; I. Hulzebos: 3-3, 2R, 2RBI; G. Buysse: 1-2, BB; A. VanWatermeulen: 0-2, 2R, RBI, BB; M. Hennen: 1-2, R, RBI, BB.

M/C PITCHING

M. Hennen: 5 IP: 6 SO, 4H.

TMB HITTING

B. Kirk: 1-3; A. Dolan: 1-2; P. Freeburg: 2-2.

TMB PITCHING

G. Lanoue: 2 IP, 7H, 7ER, 2BB; M. Ankrum: 2 IP, SO, 4H, ER, 2BB.

GAME 2

M/C 18, TMB 9

Minneota exploded for seven runs right away in the top of the first inning of the second game, but TMB had the response and eventually tied the score up 9-9 by the end of the fourth inning. But, the Vikings turned things back into their control to hold off the Panthers from there to hang on for the win.

The two teams had to play most of the second game through high winds that picked up around the start of the second inning.

TMB tied the score following three runs in the bottom of the third and another two in the fourth.

The Panthers got the bases loaded in the third inning to get its momentum started with Bella Martinez on first, Loftness on second and Alli Dolan on third. Martinez and Loftness each had a base hit, while Dolan was walked.

Dolan accounted for the first run when Avery Torgeson was walked, while Kirk stepped up next and hit a hard ground ball to right field to allow Loftness and Martinez to run in.

Following three quick outs, the Panthers got right back on offense in the fourth, where Ankrum scored a Loftness ground-out, and Dolan scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch. Dolan initially got on base with a walk again, and Ankrum had an infield single.

The Panthers first started chipping their way back into the game with four runs in the bottom of the first, including Ankrum’s two-run homer that she sent past the right-field fence. She scored Rosa Vang on the hit as well.

Hennen came back in for the rest of the game to pitch following the first inning. Joelle Otto had the start.

Yet, Minneota/Canby settled back in and got its rhythm back to pull away with a five-run fifth inning with another four in the sixth.

Hennen and Walker hit back-to-back RBIs to bring in a run each in the fifth, with Walker’s being a double on a line drive to left field.

TMB began to struggle with errors, finishing the game with seven. Minneota/Canby had three.

Bednarek hit an infield grounder and reached base on a Panthers’ fielding error that also allowed Walker and Antony to score as well for a 13-9 lead. Antony initially walked.

Jerzak, who reached base on a single, then scored on a wild pitch.

The Vikings kept up the tempo in their next at-bat in the sixth. Walker once again showed up big and doubled on a line drive to center field, and used her speed to get all the way home on the same play following a Panthers’ fielding error. Hennen also scored on the play, who first walked.

“At practice, we are definitely told to be aggressive in everything we do,” Walker said, who also cited that the team will aim to keep building on their current momentum by being humble, taking every opponent seriously, and remaining aggressive.

Hulzebos hit a two-run RBI single on a fly ball to center field that gave the Vikings the nine-run lead, ultimately ending the game as the final frame went scoreless.

Walker went 4 for 6 at the plate with team-highs of three RBIs and three runs. Ankrum and Loftness led TMB, each going 2 of 4 with a pair of RBIs.

BOX SCORE

M/C HITTING

E. Walker: 4-6, 2R, 3RBI; J. Otto: 0-4, 2R, 2BB; C. Antony: 1-3, 2R, 2BB; J. Jerzak: 1-5, 2R; M. Bednarek: 0-3, R, 2RBI, 2BB; I. Hulzebos: 1-5, R, 2RBI; G. Buysse: 0-4, R, W. Swedzinski: 1-4, 2R, RBI, BB; M. Hennen: 2-2, 4R, 2RBI, 3BB.

M/C PITCHING

J. Otto: 1 IP, 5H, 4ER; M. Hennen: 6 IP, 10 SO, 4H, 4ER, 4BB.

TMB HITTING

B. Kirk: 1-4, 2RBI; R. Vang: 1-3, R, BB; M. Ankrum: 2-4, 2R, 2RBI, HR; G. Lanoue: 1-4, R; A. Dolan: 0-2, 3R, 2BB; A. Loftness: 2-4, R, 2RBI; B. Martinez: 2-3, R; A. Torgeson: 0-3, RBI, BB.

TMB PITCHING

G. Lanoue: 7 IP, 4 SO, 10H, 7ER, 10BB.