In a battle between the two highest seeded left in the Section 1A softball championship bracket, the No. 1 seeded Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms are headed to the semifinals with a chance at reaching the section title game following a 4-3 extra innings walk-off against No. 4 Hayfield.
Although the Blossoms are seeded as the top team in Section 1A, the lower-seeded Vikings were no pushover for Class A No. 4 ranked Blooming Prairie.
Not only did the Vikings win one game and fall just shy of the Section 1A title last season, but they returned most of its roster and handed Blooming Prairie its worst loss in its current 17-4 season. Hayfield hosted and defeated BP 13-0 in Hayfield during one of the last regular season games.
The Blossoms knew they were going to have their plate full having to battle with the Vikings, but that made the 4-3 walk-off victory in eight innings feel even sweeter.
“A couple weeks ago, they beat us 13-0,” said head coach Cam Rutledge. “So for our girls to bounce back and play like we can play, I was very happy with what they did. This is a very good Hayfield team, they hit the ball very well and got good pitching and good defense. That’s a very, very good win for us, I think they’re definitely one of the top teams in our section.”
Hayfield were the ones that struck first and put some pressure on the top-seeded Blossoms after the Vikings scored a pair of runners in the top of the fourth with an additional run in the top of the fifth to take a 3-0 lead.
After being held scoreless in the first four innings, Blooming Prairie broke through and managed to tie things up in the bottom of the fifth. Macy Lembke recorded an RBI grounder, an error on a Shawntee Snyder fly ball allowed Rachel Winzenburg to score and Layla Lembke tied it with an RBI single to center field.
The Awesome Blossoms had good chances at pulling ahead and ending things in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, but the Vikings found a way to get themselves out of a jam.
Macy Lembke set the tone for extra innings by forcing three quick outs off a groundout, a pop fly and a strikeout. Hayfield gave up some errors to open up the door for the Blossoms in the bottom of the eighth.
With runners on first and second, Snyder stepped to the plate with two outs and a chance to walk things off. Blooming Prairie couldn’t have asked for a better batter to step into the box in that situation and Snyder sealed the win by drilling a line drive into left field for the walkoff single.
“I was going through my head, ‘you got to hit barrel, get a base hit and get them home,’” Snyder said going into her at-bat.
Winzenburg and Ella Smith both recorded two hits. Snyder, Layla Lembke and Anna Haberman recorded one hit each. Snyder, Macy and Layla Lembke all recorded an RBI. Macy Lembke pitched all eight innings and recorded four strikeouts.
With the victory, the Blossoms move into the Section 1A semifinals against No. 6 seeded Wabasha-Kellogg with a trip to the Section 1A title game on the line. A victor in the semifinals matchup would have to win just one of two games in the championship game to earn the section title.
The Section 1A semifinals matchup with No. 1 Blooming Prairie and No. 6 Wabasha-Kellogg is set for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, at Todd Park in Austin. The loser will play either No. 4 Hayfield or No. 5 Kenyon-Wanamingo in the elimination bracket for another shot at the section title game.
“I think we just need to know our worth, know our abilities and stay confident through it,” Lembke said of moving through the playoffs.
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