Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Softball

Jacob Swanson – Faribault Daily News

Fans came into Waterville-Elysian-Morristown and Bethlehem Academy’s Section 1A West matchup expecting a good game and they were not disappointed.

The teams battled back and forth throughout the seven innings, with W-E-M claiming the 5-3 win.

The Cardinals struck first, taking lead on a run by Tess Glenzinski in the first.

Malia Hunt scored in the third to make it 2-2, but the Buccaneers tied things up in the bottom of the inning with runs by Autumn Taylor and Lindsay Condon, who pinch ran for Maddy Meskan.

The score stayed tied until the fifth, when Nicole Nuetzman singled home pinch runner Addyson Taylor.

With three two-out hits by Brielle Bartelt, Autumn Taylor and Hailie Tegmeier in the sixth, the Buccaneers made the lead 5-2 heading into the top of the seventh.

BA made it interesting, as Kate Trump blasted a double to the wall to bring the tying run to second with one out in the seventh, but W-E-M pitcher Trista Hering got a strikeout and a ground out to end the contest.

“They’re a very good team,” BA coach Maren Viland said of the Buccaneers. “Overall, I thought we played really well. Obviously I’m disappointed we didn’t come out on top, but like I’ve always said, a game can go either way.”

Hering went all seven innings, allowing only one earned run while striking out six.

“Trista kept them off balance enough,” W-E-M coach Crystal Lamont said. “She wasn’t as sharp as she has been lately, but pitching back-to-back games you kind of expect that.”

The Buccaneers had 10 hits, and even when they weren’t getting hits, they made a lot of solid contact.

“Right away in the first inning I thought we made good contact,” Lamont said. “Even though we didn’t get anyone on, you could just tell that they were going to time her and we were going to score runs, so that part I wasn’t too worried about. We had some key hits with two outs and the girls kept battling.”

W-E-M faces Hayfield on Thursday in Austin. The teams didn’t play each other this season, but Lamont expects a tough game.

“We got scheduled about three times and never got it in with them,” Lamont said. “They made it to the state tournament last year and have been there multiple times, so we know they’re going to be a big challenge for us.”

If the Buccaneers want to beat Hayfield, they’ll need to improve defensively, as they had some issues with errors Tuesday.

“We weren’t crisp defensively. We need to pick that up to have a chance on Thursday,” Lamont said. “We just need to play better defense, Trista needs to get sharp again and clean things up to keep their hitters off balance. We’ll just come out and play it one pitch and hit at a time and see what happens.”

The Cardinals will face Blooming Prairie on Thursday in Austin. Blooming Prairie beat the Cardinals 6-5 when the teams met on May 14.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 5, Bethlehem Academy 3

WEM – 0 0 2 0 1 2 X

BA – 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

WEM Hitting – Nuetzman 2-3, 2 RBI; Bartelt 1-4, R, SB; Tegmeier 2-3, 2 RBI, R, 2 2B, HBP; Autumn Taylor 1-3, 2 R, 2B; Hering 1-3, 2B; Meskan 1-4, RBI; Megan Adank 1-2, HBP; Allison Rients 1-2; Condon 0-0, R

WEM Pitching – Hering 7IP-10H-3R-1ER-3BB-6SO

BA Hitting – Glenzinski 1-2, R, 2 BB; Hunt 1-4, R; Jessica Oathoudt 1-3, BB; Grace Ashley 3-4, RBI; Kate Trump 1-4, 2B, SB; Grace Viland 1-4, R; Maggie Viland 1-4; Nicole Menard 1-3

BA Pitching – Glenzinski 6IP-10H-5R-5ER-1BB-4SO

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

An oft-used cliche is that it’s hard to beat a team for the third time.

It need not apply to the Buccaneers.

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown beat visiting United South Central 10-0 in six innings in Monday’s Section 1A West playoff opener.

“We had beat USC twice this season but we knew that didn’t mean anything heading into playoffs,” said WEM coach Crystal Lamont. “We took advantage of some walks and had some timely hits. Trista [Hering] was solid on the mound and also helped herself offensively.”

After a scoreless first, Hering singled to score Megan Adank for the first run of the game.

Hering further helped her cause with a two-RBI single in the third to cap a four-run inning.

Adank also had two hits and a double for the team’s lone extra-base hit.

Hering was lights out in the circle. She struck out 11, walked none and scattered three hits.

USC’s best shot to pull close came in the top of the fourth inning down 5-0. The Rebels were fruitless with runners on first and second base with one out and second and third with two outs.

WEM is now onto the double elimination portion of the section tournament. It will host No. 3 seed Bethlehem Academy (9-5) 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Cardinals won 6-5 May 3 in Waterville.

BA came back to beat No. 6 Glenville-Emmons/Alden-Conger 14-10 Monday in Faribault to advance.

“We are in the double elimination now so that takes a little pressure off,” Lamont said. “We are familiar with BA and them with us so it will come down to who is able to execute. BA has built a good program and will be a good test for us tomorrow night.”

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 10, United South Central 0 (6 innings)

U — 000 000 X

W — 014 212 X

WEM hitting — Trista Hering 2-3, 3 RBI; Megan Adank 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB; Maddy Meskan 1-3, RBI, BB; Makayla Paulson 1-1, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB; Allison Rients 1-4, 2 R, BB; Hailie Tegmeier 0-1, R, 3 BB; Nicole Nuetzman 0-3, BB

WEM pitching — Hering (W) 6IP-3H-0ER-0R-0BB-11SO

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

Some late-season dramatics may be beneficial for the upcoming playoffs.

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown softball team (10-4) took host Mayer Lutheran (7-13) to 10 innings Friday night in New Germany. Mayer Lutheran scored two in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 3-2 victory with two outs.

The Crusaders scored first with a run in the bottom of the first inning and held WEM scoreless until the sixth inning. The Buccaneers didn’t get a hit until the third.

Still down 1-0, Maddy Meskan hit a two-out RBI single in the sixth.

Both teams went down in order in the seventh and eighth.

WEM was retired in order again in the ninth by Mayer Lutheran’s Anna Asmus.

Mayer had runners on first and second base in the bottom of the ninth. WEM’s Trista Hering, who did not allow an earned run in 9 ⅔ innings, got a strikeout, flyout and strikeout to extend the game.

Brielle Bartelt hit a two-out RBI single in the top of the 10th to give the Bucs their first lead.

The Crusaders’ leadoff hitter walked in the 10th and later came around to score on a wild pitch and an error made in the next at-bat.

Marta Saulsbury hit a walk-off RBI single to hand Mayer Lutheran the win.

Fortunately for WEM, Friday’s game didn’t matter for seeding. It learned Friday morning it is the No. 2 seed out of seven teams in Subsection 1A West.

The Bucs will host No. 7 United South Central (1-11) in an elimination game 5 p.m. Monday. A win advances WEM into the double-elimination stages.

The winner will play at the high seed 5 p.m. Tuesday against No. 3 Bethlehem Academy or No. 6 Glenville-Emmons/Alden-Conger.

At the top of the bracket, Hayfield earned the No. 1 seed and a bye. It will host the winner of No. 4 Blooming Prairie and No. 5 Hayfield.

WEM beat USC by scores of 15-5 (six innings) and 16-0 (four innings).

W — 000 001 000 1

M — 100 000 000 2

WEM hitting — Brielle Bartelt 2-5, RBI; Megan Adank 1-3, R, BB; Maddy Meskan 1-4, RBI; Hailie Tegmeier 0-3, R, BB; Nicole Nuetzman 0-3, SB, BB

WEM pitching — Trista Hering (L) 9⅔IP-4H-0ER-3R-4BB-15SO

Jacob Swanson – Faribault Daily News

There were only seven hits in Waterville-Elysian-Morristown’s game with Maple River on Tuesday, but the Buccaneers got the big ones.

After Maple River tied the score at 2-2 in the sixth, Autumn Taylor and Brielle Bartelt saved the day. Taylor singled, advanced on a passed ball and scored on Bartelt single for the 3-2 walk-off win.

Bartelt went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the game. Taylor was 1-for-1 with two walks, a run and a stolen base.

Pitcher Trista Hering held Maple River to just three hits in the game. The Buccaneer defense committed five errors on the day, but they only resulted in two Eagle runs.

“Our defense wasn’t solid tonight but we didn’t let it snowball into a lot of runs,” W-E-M coach Crystal Lamont said. “We dug in and got some key outs.”

Hering struck out eight hitters, including two in the top of the seventh with a runner on second and no outs. Neither of the runs she allowed were earned.

With playoffs right around the corner, the walkoff should provide a boost of confidence for the Buccaneers.

“Maple River is a very fundamentally sound team. This was a great win,” Lamont said. “It’s what you want to see heading into playoffs: a shutout top of the seventh followed by a walkoff hit to win the game.”

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 3, Maple River 2

WEM – 0 1 1 0 0 0 1

MR – 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

WEM Hitting – Bartelt 2-3, 2 RBI; Taylor 1-1, R, 2 BB; Makayla Paulson 1-2, 2B, R; Nicole Nuetzman 0-2, BB; Megan Adank 0-3, R; Kylie Pittmann 0-3, RBI

WEM Pitching – Hering (W) 7IP-3H-0ER-2R-2BB-8SO-117P

WEM was seeded #2 in the Sub-Section 1A-West. Hayfield was the #1 seed, followed by WEM #2, BA #3, Blooming Prairie to round out the top seeds. WEM will open play Monday, May 21st at home versus USC at 5pm. The complete bracket is posted in our documents.