SOFTBALL TEAM HAS BUSY FINAL WEEK OF REGULAR SEASON

The MCC Rebels were on the road for a busy day of softball on Wednesday, May 17. The Rebels went to Jackson to play in the JCC Softball tournament that was originally scheduled to be played a week ago Saturday but was postponed due to rain. So, the Rebels would play the games on Wednesday instead. It turned into one of the warmer days of the spring, even more so, when you are playing three days. The tournament also started a stretch for the Rebels of five games in three days.

In game one of the day, the Rebels took on the host school Jackson County Central. The Rebels fell behind early with a couple of costly errors that allowed the Huskies to build a five-to-nothing lead over the first three innings. The Rebels’ bats got going in the fourth and fifth inning, scoring six runs. MCC showed balance in their offense with five different players driving in runs. Thea Schneider and Jayda Hellewell collected two hits each. Unfortunately, the Rebels’ rally was short-lived, as the Huskies scored the final five runs of the game to get the win 10-6.

In game two, the Rebels took on the Worthington Trojans. The Rebels overwhelmed the Trojans, collecting 14 hits on the game. Mary Lou McNab led the Rebels with 3 hits including a double and a home run. Morgan WInter and Elise Paulzine connected on two hits. Ava Deacon hit her first career home run, as the Rebels pulled away for the easy 9-0 win. McNab drove in three for the Rebels, while Deacon drove in 2. The Trojans have struggled this season, and the Rebels gave them little hope for a win. Mary Lou McNab picked up the win, pitching all 7 innings, allowing 3 hits and striking out 7. In the final game of the day, the Rebels took on stateranked New York Mills. The Rebels took a first-inning lead 1-0 when Mary Lou McNab doubled and Jayda Hellewell drove her in with a single. The Eagles took the lead, 2-1 in the second but the Rebels tied it up in the top of the third inning 2-2 when Abby Loosbrock walked and stole second, then scored on another Hellewell single. The Rebels were outscored by ten over the final 2.5 innings. Mary Lou McNab allowed 7 hits and 6 walks, while 8 of the 12 runs were earned. The Rebels fell in five innings, 12-2 to end the day.

The Rebels went 1 and 2 on the day. Mary Lou McNab and Ava Deacon provided the fireworks, with a home run each. Jayda Hellewell had 4 hits on the day and drove in 3 total runs. Morgan Winter had 3 hits for the Rebels as well. Mary Lou McNab picked up a win and a loss in the circle while Thea Schneider took a loss. The Rebels look to finish the regular season on Thursday and Friday with a pair of games on the road to Camden Conference foes RTR and TMB.

LOSE TO KNIGHTS 1-0

The MCC Rebels traveled to Tyler on Thursday to take on the RTR Knights in a subsection 3A South matchup. The Knights are the Camden Conference champions and will be headed to the Red Rock Conference next season in all sports. The Knights and the Rebels came into this game in different ways. The Knights lost a costly game against the Wabasso Rabbits before beating Edg/SWC 1-0. The Rebels lost to Edg/SWC 3-2 and then lost 2 of 3 games in Jackson on Wednesday. The two teams played a hard-fought game that would come down to the only run of the game.

With Thea Schneider not available to pitch for the Rebels, Mary Lou McNab got the start in the circle against one of the top pitchers in the area, Katelyn Alderson. Alderson dominated the game for the Knights, striking out 16 Rebels, but the Rebel defense was able to make the key plays to keep the Knights off the scoreboard. McNab got hit by a line drive up the middle and Taylor Larson relieved her in the middle of the third inning. The sophomore would pitch well and kept the Knights off balance. The game came down to the final at-bat in the bottom of the 7th inning. Laken Baartman hit a groundrule double to center and the Rebels intentionally walked Alderson, to put runners at first and second setting up force outs at each base with no outs. The Knights got very selective at the plate and they took two walks, to end the game 1-0.

The Rebels played a solid game and to do it without your top two pitchers, was a great step for the Rebels. Unfortunately, that great moment, much like Monday, still comes in a one-run loss to a great team. Atalie Rosenbrook led the Rebels with two hits and Emmi Peltola had a base hit as well, as the Rebels took the loss. Taylor Larson would be the tough-luck loser in the circle as Alderson picked up the win. The Rebel’s record stood at 8-8 on the season heading into the final game of the year, Friday at TMB.

LOSE 14-4 AGAINST PANTHERS

The final game of the regular season softball was played in Tracy on Friday. Earlier in the day, the Rebels and the Panthers found out that they would not only play on Friday but they would play one another in the opening round of the section 3A softball tournament on Tuesday, May 23rd. The Rebels and the Panthers played one another in the first round of the playoffs in Edgerton a year ago with the Panthers winning and moving on and the Rebels going home. The two teams will do it all over again on Tuesday but first, on Friday the two teams needed to wrap up the regular season.

This would be a game the Rebels would like to forget. Taylor Larson got the start in the circle and the sophomore made some good pitches, but over four innings the Rebels defense committed 8 errors. Larson walked just two batters, but the errors, combined with 12 hits by TMB would be costly. The Panthers put 14 runs on the board in just 4 innings. The Rebels, on offense, got runners on in every inning but they failed to get the big hit they needed to get a big rally started. The Rebels scored single runs in 4 of 5 innings but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Panthers got the win, 14 to 4, a big momentum builder heading into Tuesday’s rematch in Edgerton.

Morgan Winter led the Rebel bats with 3 hits and an RBI. Emmi Peltola had one hit and 2 RBIs. Taylor Larson. Zoey Iverson, Ava Deacon, and Elise Paulzine all had hits. The Rebels finished the regular season with 8 wins and 9 losses and are once again playing in the 4 vs 5 matchup in the subsection playoffs. The Rebels play at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, May 23rd in Edgerton against TMB. The winner of the game will qualify for double elimination play on the 27th and play Edgerton/ SWC on Tuesday after game 1. The losing team’s season will be over.

Jayda Hellewell

Emmi Peltola