MACA softball, baseball vie in 3AA competition

Softball: Pipestone 14, Tigers 3

Pipestone stood defiantly in MACA's hoped-for path to the state tournament. State isn't in the cards for the 2012 MACA unit, despite the very frequent victories. Victories were in fact the norm but not at the end.

Teams from the south can spell trouble for teams from this area. The Tigers lost to Pipestone twice at the end, in a period of five days.

The Tuesday loss in Section 3AA spelled the end of the season. Coach Mary Holmberg's Tigers finish with a 17-5 record.

The Tuesday game stayed close for three innings. After that it was all Pipestone. Pipestone surged to score four runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth, four in the sixth and two in the seventh.

The Tigers stayed frozen with the three runs they scored over the first three innings. So the final score was a humbling 14-3.

Pipestone matched the run total with 14 hits. They committed one error compared to three by the Tigers.

The Tigers were held to six hits by Pipestone hurlers Tasia Woelber and Kelly Nettick. It was Nettick who got the "W" by her name. She pitched 4 1/3 innings and struck out four batters.

McKenzie VanBatavia gamely pitched the full seven innings for Morris Area Chokio Alberta. She has held down many foes but she couldn't contain Pipestone, whose bats pounded out those 14 hits. VanBatavia walked one and failed to get a strikeout.

Six different Tigers produced the team's six hits: Steph Hennen, Tracy Meichsner, Holly Amundson, VanBatavia, Olivia Reimers and Megan Mecklenburg. Amundson drove in two runs.

 

Baseball: Tigers 9, Montevideo 5

The MACA win skein expanded to ten, most thrilling, with a 9-5 triumph against Montevideo in Section 3AA. The win opened the door for MACA to vie in the final four of this phase of post-season.

The Tuesday (5/29) success was in Montevideo. Coach Mark Torgerson's crew is the third-seeded unit out of the North.

Victory is sweet but the game was no masterpiece. Fielding presented problems for both the Tigers and the Thunder Hawks. The line scores are eye-opening with the error totals of eight by Monte and six by Morris Area Chokio Alberta. The game might have been a baseball purist's nightmare but winning offsets such a judgment.

The Tigers start with a clean slate with the semis, set for Marshall.

The Tigers got much of the winning steam they needed in the first inning. Eight Tigers came up to bat in that initial frame. Tyler Henrichs, who would finish with three hits, helped fuel that rally with a run-scoring single.

Tanner Picht pushed in a run with a ground ball. Jacob Torgerson picked up a timely  RBI with a sacrifice fly.

Henrichs and Tom Holland were standouts in the boxscore, each recording three hits. Holland was three-for-four with three runs scored. Henrichs was three-for-four, crossed home plate twice and drove in two runs.

Chandler Erickson rapped two hits in as many at-bats and drove in two runs. Picht was one-for-three with a ribbie.

Brett Bergeson was on a tear with the bat for host Montevideo. His success helped force a pitching change. Bergeson had a triple as part of going four-for-four. The triple drove in a run and influenced a pitching change from Jacob Torgerson to Sam Mattson.

Torgerson worked on the mound for 3 1/3 innings. Just one of the four runs he allowed was earned. He fanned three batters and walked one.

Mattson got the pitching win with his 3 2/3 innings of work. With so many errors in this game, you can expect unearned runs, and the one run Mattson allowed was unearned. He struck out a batter and walked none.

The losing pitcher was Jordan Thompson who was relieved by Colton Vien.

 

Baseball: Tigers 5, Red Rock Central/WWG 1

Prep sports doesn't pause much for the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday found the orange and black Tigers taking the diamond to play Red Rock Central/WWG. If you want it all spelled out, it's "Westbrook-Walnut Grove" at the end.

The Tigers were the 5-1 victor, thus earning advancement to the Section 3AA quarter-finals.

Sam Mattson was in complete game form on the mound. The reliable pitcher got the win with an eight-strikeout performance. He walked two and allowed four hits and the one Red Rock run which was earned.

Bryan Bierl was the losing pitcher and was relieved by Colby Davis.

MACA held a 2-0 lead after three innings. Red Rock broke onto the scoreboard with one run in the top of the fourth. The Tigers answered with a three-run rally that gave Mattson ample support to finish this one out. A two-run error was part of that rally. So was a run-scoring single off Tanner Picht's bat.

The Tigers carved out a big advantage with fielding. The line scores show MACA with one error and Red Rock with four.

Neither team knocked the cover off the ball. Five different Tigers had one hit each. Here's the list: Tom Holland, Picht, Chandler Erickson, Brody Bahr and Jordan Staples. Picht and Erickson each had an RBI.

Taylor Vollmer had a multiple-hit game for the loser. 

 

Softball: two games on 5/26

The MACA girls like the boys had an important competition assignment on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. In fact, the softball girls played two games. They lost the first but because they were in double-elimination, they stayed alive to play again and win.

The loss was to Pipestone from down south, a team that proved to be a real nemesis for MACA in the season's closing stages.

The Tigers couldn't summon much of a competitive stance vs. Pipestone. On Saturday (5/26) they fell 12-2 in six innings - pretty humbling.

Then the Tigers regrouped to defeat Redwood Valley 4-2. The win gave MACA the opportunity to play Pipestone again with results pretty similar, alas.

 

Tigers 4, Redwood Valley 2

The Tigers' 5/26 win saw McKenzie VanBatavia pitch versus Sam Felt.

VanBatavia wasn't in complete control as she allowed ten hits and walked two. But she allowed just the two runs, one each in the first and fifth, and one of the runs was unearned. She struck out five batters.

The Tigers were quiet offensively until the fifth. Then they went on the attack vs. Felt, recording four runs in the top of the fifth. It turned out that's all the offense they needed. Their final line score was four runs, six hits and two errors. The Redwood Valley line was 2-10-1.

Yes, the Tigers were outhit by four.

VanBatavia had a hit and an RBI. Sadie Fischer socked two hits including a double and drove in two runs. Brooke Johnson picked up an RBI to go with her two-for-three line. Tracy Meichsner had a one-for-three showing.

Redwood Valley's Julia Busiahn was a terror at bat with four-for-four numbers. Teammate Ashley Bhurtas had two hits.

 

Pipestone 12, Tigers 2

Morris Area Chokio Alberta scored in just one inning, the third, and had just one hit vs. the commanding pitching of Tasia Woelber. MACA pitchers Mackenzie VanBatavia and Brianna Abril struggled by comparison.

VanBatavia was tagged with the loss. She has been the ace through this past campaign, relieved occasionally by Brianna Abril. VanBatavia pitched five innings and Abril one in the 5/26 game.

VanBatavia struck out six batters but got roughed up to the tune of nine hits allowed and nine runs (eight earned). Abril fanned two batters while allowing two hits and three runs (earned) in her one inning.

Pipestone went on the attack to score two runs each in the first, third and fourth innings. Then, three runs each came home in the fifth and sixth to seal the outcome and let Tasia Woelber cruise.

A different Woelber - Tiffany - was a terror at bat with four hits in as many at-bats including a double and triple. Her RBI total: three. Amanda Haupert homered and doubled as part of going three-for-four.

Tracy Meichsner had the only MACA hit. The MACA runs were scored by Brooke Wente and Steph Hennen.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com