By Coach Heather Struve
The Wolverine Softball Team opened tournament play on Monday, July 8 at Swanson Sports Complex and came away with a 10-2 win over Harris-Lake Park in Class 1A Region 1 after starting off down 1-2. The first inning South O’Brien held HLP scoreless and scored a cheap run of their own when Tawni Wulf got to first base on an overthrow and later came in on a ground out from Jinger Nieuwenhuis. In the top of the second inning the Wolves put two runs on the board to go up 2-1 off of a couple base hits, a few Wolverine errors and a sac bunt.
As the Wolverines were looking a bit sluggish on defense, the offense put four runs on the board in the bottom of the second to go up 5-2. Abby Nelson had the big hit that inning with a two-run double. For the remainder of the game South O’Brien held HLP in check and did not allow them to score.
In the third inning Brooklyn Edwards had a leadoff single and was replaced by Kelsee Warnke on the bases. Warnke advanced to second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a base hit bunt from Lindsey Einck. In the fouth inning Taylor Wulf drew a leadoff walk and Alena Villarreal came in to pinch run for her. Villarreal later scored on a single from Nieuwenhuis. In the fifth inning the Wolverines would go on to score three runs and get to the final score of 10-2. The only hit of the inning was an RBI single from Nelson.
The offense was not on fire by any means, with only five total hits, but we did what we wanted to by putting the ball in play and making HLP make plays on defense. We were also very aggressive on the bases, taking advantage of any little HLP miscue. The Wolves were having a tough time fielding the bunt, so the Wolverines kept laying them down and even scored twice on squeeze plays. Nelson was the hottest at the plate going 2-for-4 with a double and a single and three RBI’s, along with a run scored. Nieuwenhuis, Edwards and Einck were all credited with a single and an RBI.
Edwards went the distance on the mound, scattering four hits, allowing two unearned runs, walking two and striking out four. She did her job and made them put it in play. Her defense let her down the one inning, but was on for the rest of the game and made some nice plays behind her. This was a nice win to start tournament play off with.
HLP
0 2 0 0 0 0 0 – 2
SO’
1 4 1 1 3 0 x – 10