Photo by Jake McNeill: The Lakeview softball team celebrates in the dugout after a run scored during its matchup against Adrian/Ellsworth in the first round of the Section 3A tournament, Tuesday in Wabasso.

WABASSO — Despite falling into an early hole, the Lakeview softball team battled back in the first round of the Section 3A tournament to claim their first postseason win since 2021 on Tuesday. The fifth-seeded Lakers rode the momentum of a four-run rally to come from behind and earn a 9-7 win over No. 4 Adrian/Ellsworth.

“It feels great. It’s just- I love this team with all my heart,” Lakeview senior Kiara Hinz said. “We’re all so supportive of each other, we’re all there for each other. If something goes wrong, we pick each other up.”

The Lakers take on the South’s top-seeded Wabasso Rabbits in the second round of the tournament. The second game was still in progress at the time of print, and full coverage will be available online.

“It’s exciting for our team, our program and our players, too. A lot of these girls have been here since that original team that made it, and it’s fun to see them keep growing and put everything together like they have this season,” Lakeview head coach Linnea Stibbe said.

The Lakers trailed 5-1 after the second inning, but got a run back when Teegan Fiene singled and scored on a Taylor Hinz ground out in the third. An inning later, the Lakers strung together four runs to reclaim the lead.

Avery Hinz kicked off the rally by drawing a walk and promptly scored when Khya Garawecki reached base on an error. After a Makenna Anderson single put runners on the corners with one out, an error in left field allowed both runners to score for the tying runs.

“It’s something that we’ve been doing when we’ve been down the last couple games is get our bats moving again, get aggressive on the bases and capitalize on their mistakes,” Stibbe said. “It’s about being aggressive on the bases and forcing them to make that play on us.”

The Lakers continued to put runners on base when a Fiene single and a walk to Kiara Hinz loaded the bases. Adrian made a pitching change and got a strikeout to put two away, but a walk to Kendra Velde pushed across the go-ahead run for a 6-5 Laker lead.

“[The energy in the dugout] was so high. Our bats were connecting, we were stringing hits togoether, our energy was just so high,” Kiara Hinz said, adding that the team talked in the dugout about fixing the little things ahead of the rally.

Kiara Hinz reached base three times for Lakeview in the game with a single and two walks, as well as a pair of steals, while Fiene recorded a team-high three hits. Anderson also recorded a pair of hits while Velde walked twice.

Anderson threw a complete game on the mound to earn the win, limiting the Dragons to a pair of earned runs on eight hits and five walks. She also struck out seven batters in the game.

“She was battling a little bit with the strike zone… so it’s about little adjustments for her,” Stibbe said of Anderson. “It’s about making those adjustments, not going drastic and staying with it. She’s got to keep battling on those pitches and I thought she did really well doing that.”

Kiara Hinz got the Lakers off to a strong start, drawing a leadoff walk, stealing her way to third and scoring on an Avery Hinz sacrifice bunt. Yet, an error, an RBI double and a ground out gave the Dragons a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead, and expanded on that advantage with another three runs in the second.

Lakeview’s bats got active in the sixth when Fiene and Kiara and Taylor Hinz hit consecutive singles to load the bases with no out. Fiene scored on a ground out, though the Dragons were awarded a double play due to runner interference, but Avery Hinz followed up with an RBI single to bring the score to 8-5.

Morgan Velde hit a two-out double to drive in Garawecki in the seventh, giving the Lakers a four-run cushion heading into the final half-inning.

The Dragons put two runners on to start the seventh with a walk and a single before Anderson got a ground out and a strikeout to put two away. Back-to-back RBI singles put the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate, but Kendra Velde caught a line-out in right field to end the game.

BOX SCORE

BATTING

K. Hinz: 1-2, 2 BB, R, 2 SB; T. Hinz: 1-4, RBI, R, SB, 2 SO; K. Velde: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, SO; Av. Hinz: 1-2, BB, 2 RBI, R, SO; K. Gawarecki: 1-4, 2 R; M. Anderson: 2-4, R, 2 SB, SO; M. Velde: 1-3 (2B), BB, RBI, R; T. Fiene: 3-4 (2B), 2 R.

PITCHING

M. Anderson: W, 7 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 SO.