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Softball roundup: Defense shines in NLS win over Montevideo

joe brown, tom elliott, donna middleton, west central tribune, willmar, minn.
·7 min read

May 21—MONTEVIDEO — With solid glovework in the infield, New London-Spicer was able to snatch a victory in its regular-season finale.

Playing Montevideo in a non-conference softball matchup, strong defensive play by the Wildcats helped preserve a 4-2 victory over the Thunder Hawks on Friday.

The middle of the infield — pitcher Emily Ruter, shortstop Nyla Johnson and second baseman Courtney Ronning — stood out in particular to NLS head coach Melissa Bergeson.

"Our shortstop (Johnson) made a jumping catch to get an out," Bergeson said. "And our second baseman (Ronning) had a ball glance off her glove and she picked it up behind her legs. You couldn't try to do that again. ... And she made some back-handed throws to our shortstop to get the lead runners out. Emily pitched well and played her position well."

Bergeson added, "We made a couple plays behind the pitcher. Our infield had a lot more work today than normal."

Sadie Hatlestad paced NLS' offense, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Johnson, Ruter and RaeAnn Holmquist also had hits for the Wildcats.

Ruter tossed all seven innings, striking out two without surrendering a walk.

Montevideo took the loss despite a strong day at the plate from Alyssa Sachs. She finished 3-for-3 with a double. Emily Brace, Kassey Pauling and Kylie Cobb were each 1-for-3. Pauling took the loss after throwing all seven innings.

The Wildcats wrap up the regular season with a 3-16 record. The Thunder Hawks were 2-17.

Both teams will be playing in Cokato in the opening round of the Section 3AA-North tournament on Tuesday. Seventh-seeded Montevideo takes on No. 2 Dassel-Cokato at 3 p.m. No. 6 NLS follows up against No. 3 Litchfield at 4:30 p.m. The winners of those two games play at 6 p.m.

NLS 103 000 0-4 5 1

Montevideo 000 101 0-2 6 1

Hitting — NLS: Nyla Johnson 1-4, Sadie Hatlestad 2-3 2b rbi, Emily Ruter 1-2, RaeAnn Homquist 1-3 ... Montevideo: Alyssa Sachs 3-3 2b, Emily Brace 1-3, Kassey Pauling 1-3, Kylie Cobb 1-3

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — NLS: Ruter (W) 7-6-2-2-0-2 ... Montevideo: Pauling (L) 7-5-4-2-5-5

Yellow Medicine East tacked on four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to run away with a non-conference win over host Montevideo.

Aria Peters and Jenna Weir each had two RBIs for the Sting. Weir was 1-for-2. Peters finished 1-for-4. Weir was also the winning pitcher, striking out two in seven innings.

Amery Arends and Mathea Jorgenson each finished with two hits for the Thunder Hawks.

YME 101 004 4-10 5 0

Montevideo 010 000 0-1 4 2

Hitting — YME: Aria Peters 1-4 r bb rbi-2, Hope Stark 2-3 r bb rbi, Bayli Sneller 1-3 r-2 bb rbi, Jenna Weir 1-2 rbi-2 bb-2, ... Montevideo: Mathea Jorgenson 2-4, Amery Arends 2-3

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — YME: Jenna Weir (W) 7-4-1-1-2-2 ... Montevideo: Kassey Pauling (L) 7-5-10-5-7-3

Litchfield went off for 15 hits in a four-inning rout of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in Litchfield.

Cam Iverson led the Dragons' offense, going 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Izzy Pennertz, Britney Prahl, Liv Olson and Ryanna Steinhaus all had two hits.

Haley Wilner finished 2-for-2 with an RBI for the Falcons.

ACGC 020 0-2 7 5

Litchfield 676 x-19 15 0

Hitting — ACGC: Haley Wilner 2-2 rbi sb, Mikaili Johnson 1-2 2b, Kendall Miller 1-2 r, Macy Elton 1-2 r, Ally Giese 1-2, Mackenzie Powers 1-1 rbi ... Litchfield: Liv Holmgren 1-1 r-3 rbi bb-3 sb, Karlee Prahl 1-3 2b rbi-4, Izzy Pennertz 2-4 2b r-2 rbi, Britney Prahl 2-4 r-2, Addi Marquardt 1-1 3b r-2 bb-2 sb, Liv Olson 2-2 r-3 rbi-3 bb sb, Grace Braaten 1-3 2b r-2 sb, Ryanna Steinhaus 2-2 r-3 rbi-2 bb-1 sb-2, Cam Iverson 3-3 2b r-2 rbi-3 sb

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — ACGC: Miller (L) 1-5-7-6-4-0, Abbie Kragenbring 1-7-6-6-1-0, Haley Wilner 1-3-6-3-2-0 ... Litchfield: Holmgren (W) 4-7-2-2-0-5

St. Cloud jumped out to a 10-run lead to begin Game 1 of a Central Lakes Conference doubleheader with Willmar. The Crush went on to win the opener in six innings in Willmar.

Olivia Laudenbach, Ally Breidenbach, Mattie Vought and Lindsey Zimmer each had two hits for St. Cloud. Lola Jacobs picked up the win after holding the Cardinals to one hit over five innings.

Hannah Magnuson got Willmar's lone base knock, finishing 1-for-3.

St. Cloud (10)00 004-14 9 3

Willmar 100 000-1 1 3

Hitting — St. Cloud: Olivia Laudenbach 2-5 r-2, Ally Breidenbach 2-5 r-2 rbi, Mattie Vought 2-4 r-3 rbi-3, Lindsey Zimmer 2-4 r-2 rbi-2 ... Willmar: Hannah Magnuson 1-3

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — St. Cloud: Lola Jacobs (W) 5-1-1-0-2-3, Grace Theis 1-0-0-0-1-0 ... Willmar: Grace Bjur (L) 0-3-9-8-5-0, Lily Reed 6-6-5-4-3-3

For the second straight game, St. Cloud had a 10-run first inning that set the tone for a five-run victory and a Central Lakes Conference sweep over host Willmar.

Olivia Laudenbach and Ally Breidenbach were both 3-for-4 for the Crush. Laudenbach had three runs and three RBIs. Breidenbach drove in three runs and scored two more.

Hannah Magnuson was 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs for the Cardinals. Katelyn Garberding was 1-for-2 with a run. Lily Reed also had a hit.

Willmar 040 00-4 4 3

St. Cloud (10)01 3x-14 12 1

Hitting — Willmar: Hannah Magnuson 2-3 rbi-2, Lily Reed 1-3, Katelyn Garberding 1-2 r ... St. Cloud: Olivia Laudenbach 3-4 r-3 rbi-3, Ally Breidenbach 3-4 r-2 rbi-3, Mattie Vought 2-4 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Willmar: Grace Bjur (L) 0.1-4-10-0-3-1, Abby Clancy 3.2-8-4-4-1-3 ... St. Cloud: Klaire Kiffmeyer 2-3-4-4-1-2, Grace Theis (W) 1-0-0-0-2-0, Lindsey Zimmer 2-1-0-0-0-1

Sauk Centre opened its West Central Conference doubleheader with a Game 1 victory against host Benson.

Sauk Centre completed the West Central Conference sweep, beating Benson in the night cap.

Minnewaska scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning. But it wasn't enough for the Lakers to climb out of a hole as West Central Area got the West Central Conference win in Barrett.

Jenna Drewes was 3-for-4 with a run for Minnewaska. Grace Larson drove in a pair of runs, going 2-for-3 with a double.

Minnewaska 000 003 0-3 10 0

West Central Area 000 141 x-6 10 1

Hitting — Minnewaska Area: Maddy Muelebroeck 1-4, Jenna Drewes 3-4 r, Riley Eischens 1-1 r, Leslie Murken 1-3 r rbi, Grace Larson 2-3 2b rbi-2, Leah Hagen 2-3 ... West Central Area: A. Sykora 2-3 r rbi-2, N. Anderson 1-3 rbi, A. Staples 2-3 2b r, K. Nibbe 1-3 r-2, C. Stark 2-3 2b rbi-3, M. Foslien 1-3 r, H. Foslien 1-3 r

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Minnewaska Area: Brenna Larson (L) 6-1-0-6-6-2-6 ... West Central Area: N/A