The post-season had begun. The Tigers were owner of the No. 1 seed in 3AA-North. That certainly made sense because the Tigers had only two losses on the season.
But nothing can be guaranteed once the handkerchief drops for the post-season.
The Tigers got through their two games on Tuesday unscathed but it was hardly routine. Specifically, it was Benson-Hancock that gave tense moments with a very strong challenge.
This hasn't been one of B-H's better seasons, but the Brave Owls can always be counted on to be scrappy and competitive. One can suggest they're especially competitive when playing a geographic rival like Morris Area Chokio Alberta.
The Tigers played B-H in their second Tuesday game, after their suspense-free game against Lac qui Parle Valley.
The battle vs. Benson-Hancock was low-scoring. There was no scoring until the sixth when the Brave Owls seized the lead with a solo home run off the bat of Kayla Jones.
The Tigers finally got going with a run in the bottom of that inning. A sacrifice fly off Mackenzie Weatherly's bat got the score tied.
Then in the seventh it was Weatherly again excelling with the bat as she drove in the game-winner. Weatherly waved her bat at the plate with the bases loaded. There were two outs.
She came through with a single up the middle that allowed a jubilant Sadie Fischer to cross home plate.
The Tigers ended up winning 2-1.
The Tigers ended up winning 2-1.
Weatherly is normally at centerstage with her pitching talent. On this day, her arm was tested for all but one of her team's innings in the two games.
She pitched for all seven in the B-H game. She was in command the vast majority of the time. She struck out ten Brave Owl batters and walked one. It was a two-hitter gem. The one run she allowed was earned.
Sara Rajewsky was the hard-luck loser for B-H.
MACA fans actually cheer for Rajewsky in the winter as she's a premier hockey player with Morris Benson Area (MBA). She pitched the complete game vs. MACA Tuesday - 6 2/3 innings - and had some control difficulty, walking six. She allowed six hits and fanned none.
Four Tigers went one-for-three in the boxscore: Sadie Fischer, Katie Holzheimer, Weatherly and Beth Holland. Weatherly had two RBIs. Dani Schultz had two hits in three at-bats.
The two teams fielded cleanly - one error by each.
Kayla Jones with her homer was one of two Benson-Hancock batters hitting safely. The other was Kelsey Hammerschmidt.
The Tigers began their day with a 17-0 win over LQPV in which Weatherly was relieved for one inning by McKenzie VanBatavia. Weatherly struck out eight batters and VanBatavia fanned two in her brief stint.
In fact, the two combined to achieve a perfect game.
The ten-run rule held the game to five innings.
The Morris Area Chokio Alberta line score was 17 runs, 12 hits and no errors.
Coach Mary Holmberg's squad wasted no time going on the attack. They rallied for ten runs in the first inning. A progression of 16 Tiger batters fueled that rally.
Offensively, VanBatavia had a hit in her only official at-bat. So did Weatherly. Sadie Fischer attacked LQPV pitching for three hits in four at-bats and she drove in two runs.
Katie Holzheimer was a perfect two-for-two and this Tiger drove in three runs. Dani Schultz was one-for-two and picked up two ribbies.
Kelsey DeCamp had three RBIs as part of going three-for-four. Haley Scheldorf had one hit in two at-bats.
Kenzie Long took the pitching loss for Lac qui Parle Valley. Rachel Schlieman also pitched for the Eagles.
- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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