45th article at the Independent

PREP SOFTBALL: Area teams compete in Wabasso tournament

Chris Drummond

cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

WABASSO — The Murray County Central, Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Wabasso softball teams all had a common goal when they stepped foot in Wabasso over the weekend for a tournament: get win No. 1 of the season and continue that momentum moving forward.

Wabasso, MCC and RRC/WWG, along with Springfield, Redwood Valley and Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian, all competed in the Wabasso Invite tournament on Saturday, with Wabasso going 3-0, MCC going 1-1 and RRC/WWG going 0-2.

Wabasso

Wabasso started its tournament against MCC, earning a 16-7 victory. Sara Carlson led Wabasso with a 2 for 2 day at the plate while Avery Carlson and Kelsey Frank each added a hit. Avery Carlson also earned the victory in the circle.

In Game 2, the Rabbits faced RRC/WWG and earned a 14-1 win in five innings. Avery Carlson led Wabasso with three hits while Kylee Fogelson added two hits and Sophia Hanna, Kelsey Fischer, Callie Burns and Annabelle Struntz all singled in the game. Avery Carlson earned the win in the circle, allowing just two hits and struck out six. No RRC/WWG stats were available at press time.

In Wabasso’s final game of the day, the Rabbits took down Redwood Valley 11-2. Burns led Wabasso with two hits while Struntz, Addisyn Hillesheim and Hanna each had a hit. Struntz also earned the victory in the circle, allowing three hits and struck out three.

Wabasso head coach Tiffany Eichten said she was pleased with her team and talked about the reason for the aggressiveness on the bases.

“I was pleased with what I had seen from the girls and with us only having one senior, we’re a young team that’s going to keep learning,” Eichten said. “I played aggressive and I implemented that into the team and we have had some time to work on that in practice.”

Wabasso (3-1) will face New Ulm Cathedral on the road today in a doubleheader at 4:30 p.m.

MCC

After MCC would surrender 10 runs in one inning against Wabasso on its way to a season-opening loss, the Rebels looked to bounce back against Redwood Valley. MCC did just that, earning an 8-1 win by scoring three runs in the top half of the seventh inning. First-year head coach Elissa Wieneke talked about how her team played in the tournament.

“We knew we had to work on some things,” Wieneke said. “We made some adjustments from the first game and then both our pitchers in both games pitched well and we were able to win the second game.”

No MCC stats were available at press time.

MCC (1-1) will face Edgerton/SWC on Tuesday at home at 4:30 p.m.

RRC/WWG

RRC/WWG fell to Springfield 10-4 in its season opener before dropping to Wabasso 14-1 in five innings. Multiple batters were walked by the Falcons in giving the Rabbits an early six-run lead en route to the loss. RRC/WWG head coach Derek Stevenson talked about the demeanor of his team and how it must improve going forward.

“We gotta be tougher and we gotta work harder,” Stevenson said. “When we got down, we stopped believing in ourselves. We have to remember the most important thing is to have fun.”

No RRC/WWG stats were available at press time.

RRC/WWG (0-2) will face Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey on the road on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.