More sports on Wednesday: The MACA softball Tigers took on Litchfield on Wednesday, here at the new field. The Tigers got another reminder that they had better not take a lot for granted in the post-season. As in the game vs. Browerville, the orange and black got humbled in the Wednesday affair.
A faculty/coach person who was watching the game informed me the Wednesday scheduling was due to the expected rain today (Thursday). Wednesdays are normally kept quite open. Church night? I guess that's the deal, even though churches in general are in decline everywhere. The Star Tribune recently continued its series of articles on the trend. The CW is that the young generation cannot be interested much. They are not hypnotized or mesmerized by Donald Trump and his legions.
Anyway, fans gathered as best they could Wednesday at the new softball facilities in Morris. It's every man for himself when it comes to parking. Cars park on the grass or the dirt (mud). I've seem them parked to the north of the road that goes out to the bypass.
Fans sat in their own lawn chairs out behind the outfield fence. Was this really their preferred vantage point? Or did they bail on trying to get behind home plate where the space is limited and the viewing lines are blocked by the dugouts? The dugouts are an issue. The standing room behind home plate is limited. It looked like fans had to jockey for viewing angles. So some of the fans headed to the outfield fence.
Fans saw a shutout performance by the visiting Litchfield Dragons. The Section 3AA rivalry ended with a 6-0 score and the Dragons breathing fire. When the Tigers are skunked like this, you can assume the opposing pitcher was boffo. Pitchers can dominate in this sport. So let's applaud Taylor Draeger of the Dragons. Draeger tossed a two-hitter and struck out three batters, walked two.
The MACA pitcher of record was Brienna Dybdahl who had no walks or strikeouts and allowed seven hits. Three of the runs she allowed were unearned. Yasmine Westerman pitched for one inning, struck out a batter and walked one while allowing one hit. She allowed one run which was unearned.
MACA had uncharacteristic lapses in the field with three errors. Litch meanwhile played errorless ball and pounded out eight hits. Litch owns a 14-6 record. The regular season is now done.
Wednesday's downbeat outcome for the Tigers shouldn't dampen optimism a whole lot, as our record is 18-2! We're 5-1 in 3AA play. LaRae Kram and Katelyn Wehking had our hits. Wehking turned on the jets to steal three bases.
Liv Holmgren of the Dragons was effective with her two-for-three line that included a double. She scored two runs, drove in one, stole a base and drew a walk. Sydney McCann had a hit, two RBIs and a sacrifice fly. Avery Stilwell had a hit and a run-batted-in. Emma DeWolf added to the mix with a hit. Janessa Olson went one-for-three with two runs scored and a stolen base. Ryanna Steinhaus had a hit, a stolen base and a sacrifice. Britney Prahl had a one-for-three outing with a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI.
Now we're awaiting the playoffs.
Track and field: "True team"
The Tigers made the long trip to East Grand Forks for the "true team" phase. We're in Section 5A for this chapter of the season. The idea is to test team depth.
Our boys team passed the test to garner No. 1. Monte Fehr threw the discus the furthest. Evan Oberg threw the shot put the furthest. Kenny Soderberg was #1 in the 110m and 300m hurdles. Ethan Lebrija turned on the jets to win the 100m and 200m. Top honors were also taken by our 4x100m relay unit composed of Soderberg, Lebrija, Trey Hunt and Derek Waldbeser.
The orange and black girls were No. 3 among teams. Minnewaska Area took team champion. Isabel Guerra was champ in the 400 meters. Kaylie Raths was #1 in the 300m hurdles. The 4x200m relay team of Raths, Guerra, Caryn Marty and Olivia Lebrija took No. 1.
The competition was on Monday. I assume the team bus took the route up I-29. One can feel peace along that route.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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