Tigers come on strong, sweep Montevideo

The softball Tigers are blazing forward with a winning habit. The orange and black blazed through the conference schedule with no losses. MACA is the kingpin in the West Central Conference. They came out of Thursday, May 14, with a 17-game winning streak.
Indeed, coach Mary Holmberg's athletes are a feared unit on the diamond. The Thursday story was a doubleheader sweep of the Montevideo Thunder Hawks. Each game was limited to five innings. Morris Area Chokio Alberta pounded out 13 hits in each game. Scores were 15-4 and 19-1.
Our final WCC record for the spring of '15 is 12-0. We display an 18-1 overall record with the post-season beckoning. The curtain comes up for Section 3AA play today (Tuesday).
 

Game 1: Tigers 15, Montevideo 4

The Tigers outhit the Thunder Hawks 13-6. We fielded cleanly with but one error, while Monte had two. The big innings for MACA were the third and the fifth. Five runs came home in the third, six in the fifth.
Piper Gibson wielded a potent bat with a three-for-three boxscore line. Two of Piper's hits were triples, and she drove in two runs. Becca Holland hit a double and drove in two runs. Tracy Meichsner had a two-for-three showing and picked up two ribbies.
Abby Daly had two hits in as many at-bats, one a double. Kayla Pring had a double and two ribbies. Lindsey Dierks went two-for-three with an RBI. Brooke Gillespie and Lauren Reimers also hit safely.
Olivia Bartz was a bright spot for Monte, going three-for-three. Breanna Welling was perfect too at two-for-two with one of her hits a triple, and this T-Hawk drove in two runs. Grace Sulflow added a hit to the mix.
Pring was showcased on the pitching rubber for MACA. She fanned seven T-Hawks and gave up six hits in her five innings. Two of the runs she allowed were unearned. She struggled some with control, issuing seven walks. Breanna Welling took the loss for Monte.
 

Game 2: Tigers 19, Montevideo 1

The Tigers asserted themselves out of the starting gate with a ten-run first inning. That momentum carried over, as the orange and black added five runs in the second and two each in the third and fourth. We outhit the T-Hawks 13-5 and played errorless ball.
Brooke Gillespie was handed the ball for pitching duties. She worked the full five innings, fanning six batters and walking none. She gave up five hits and the one Monte run. The losing pitcher was Alex Tongen, and Breanna Welling also pitched. Neither could keep the MACA bats quiet.
Lauren Reimers supplied a big highlight with a grand slam. She also had a triple. Lauren had a two-for-two line and drove in five runs. Tracy Meichsner went two-for-three with an RBI. Abby Daly went two-for-three.
Sam Henrichs had two hits in as many at-bats. Lindsey Dierks had a hit and two runs-batted-in. Courtney Storck had a hit in her only at-bat, as did Becca Holland. Lexi Mahoney went one-for-two with two RBIs. Gillespie had a one-for-three line.
Monte's hitting was led by Abby Olson who went two-for-three with a double. Abi Hacker, Welling and Brooklyn Benson each had a hit.
Today's (Tuesday) assignment for the high-flying and top-seeded Tigers is to face eighth seed Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop here in Morris, beginning at 3 p.m. The atmosphere among the fans will be full of zest. The sun is shining as I type this.

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