72nd Article at the Independent

PREP SOFTBALL: RTR takes out YME in doubleheader sweep

CHRIS DRUMMOND cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

GRANITE FALLS — The sun was shining and so was the offense for the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton softball team during its doubleheader against Yellow Medicine East on Tuesday, as RTR cruised to wins of 8-2 and 9-1. In both games, the Sting had a costly inning that would doom them for the losses.

In game one, the Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind key hitting and costly throwing errors by the Sting. RTR starting pitcher Kya Alderson kept the Sting bats at bay, not allowing a run through six innings. The Knights would build their lead to 8-0 and would go on to win game one 8-2 comfortably.

Briella Buchert led RTR with two hits and an RBI while Jenna Kremin added a hit and two RBIs and Whitney Bruns, Alderson and Ragan Mitchell each had a hit. Alderson earned the win in the circle, going seven innings while allowing two runs on two hits and struck out 11.

Jenna Weir and Alana Almich led YME with a hit and an RBI each. Weir took the loss in the circle, going seven innings while allowing eight runs on six hits and struck out seven.

In game two, it was a closer battle between the two teams. Both teams were making great defensive plays and both pitchers were keeping batters off balance in the game. The Knights again would strike first by putting two runs on the board. After the Sting scored, it was a 2-1 advantage for the Knights heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. That’s when the Knights would command the game. With timely hits and again costly errors by the Sting, the Knights exploded by scoring seven runs and opened up a tightly-contested ballgame and led the Sting 9-1, which would be the final score.

RTR head coach Darren Baartman assessed his team’s performance in the game.

“I thought the girls came out with pretty good focus today and pitched the ball well,” Baartman said. “We got some timely hits, scored some runs and got a couple of nice wins against a good young YME team.”

Coach Baartman also elaborated on his starting pitcher for both games, Alderson.

“She’s a bulldog out there and she loves to pitch, that’s what she’s all about,” Baartman added. “The thing that’s special about her is she doesn’t walk a lot of people and gets a lot of strikeouts.”

YME head coach Jen Sneller spoke on her team’s performance in the game.

“I think being a young team we forget that there is only so much you can control in a game and I think they’re taking steps in learning that,” coach Sneller said. “I don’t want to have that costly inning in every game. We just gotta take one pitch, one batter, one out and keep moving forward.”

Laken Baartman led RTR with two hits and three RBIs while Buchert added two hits and two RBIs and Lily Klumper had two hits. Alderson earned the win in the circle, going seven innings while allowing one run on two hits and struck out 12.

Yansi Flores and Abbie Winter led YME with a hit each. Bayli Sneller took the loss in the circle, going four innings while allowing nine runs on six hits and struck out five. Winter tossed the final two frames, allowing no runs on three hits and struck out two.

Yellow Medicine East is back in action hosting Renville County West on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., while Russell-Tyler-Ruthton will be traveling to Tracy for doubleheader action against the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers on Thursday at 4:30/6:30 p.m.