The MCC Softball team was on the road Monday taking on the Lac Qui Parle Valley Eagles in a non-conference match-up. Though it was not a conference game, it was a section match-up for the Rebels, who were looking to open the season 3-0. The Eagles had other plans and the two teams would square off in a game that would come down to the final at bat.
The Rebels opened the game with a double by Emmi Peltola and a single by Thea Schneider. Schneider stole second base and Kate Blankenship singled to center field, scoring two runs and putting the Rebels in front. The Eagles answered back in the bottom of the first with a single and a hit by pitch. With two outs, back to back bloop hits, one to left and one to right, put the Eagles in front 3-2 after one inning.
The Rebels scored the next three runs as the pitchers dueled back and forth in the middle innings. In the fourth inning, Taylor Larson got hit by a pitch and Kat Miller drove her in with a double to right field. Reese Wajer then tripled down the right field line, scoring Miller and putting the Rebels in the lead 4-3. The Rebels added a run in the top of the 5th inning when Emmi Peltola scored on a passed ball by the Eagles. MCC took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the 5th. A single, followed by a costly error, put two runners on base for the Eagles. Back to back ground ball outs plated the game tying runs. The game would remain tied into the bottom of the 7th inning. With no outs in the bottom of the 7th, an error by the Rebels, followed by a single, put runners on the corners with no outs. A passed ball by the Rebels plated the game winning run for LQPV 6-5.
It was a hard fought game that could have gone either way. The Rebels had five runs on six hits while the Eagles finished with 6 runs on 7 hits. MCC committed 3 errors to the Eagles 1 and the errors led to 3 of the Eagles runs. Thea Schneider took the loss, allowing 3 earned runs while striking out 6, not walking a batter and hitting 1. Maya Sawatzky picked up the win, striking out 12 and walking just one, while hitting 2. Emmi Peltola led the Rebels with two hits and two runs scored. Kate Blankenship had a hit and 2 RBI’s. Kat Miller and Reese Wajer had 1 RBI each. The Rebels will be back in action on Tuesday against HLOF.
