The St. Peter softball team took part in the Section 2AAA tournament this last week and in a bit of an amalgamation of the team’s entire season, there was no shortage of highlights and challenges through a four-game run. After suffering a 7-1 game one loss to Albert Lea, the Saints earned 8-2 and 11-1 wins over Worthington and Albert Lea in a rematch, to ultimately have their season come to a close with a 4-0 loss to elimination bracket runner-up Marshall.
“It’s kind of how we’ve been all season, just the adversity and we lost our right fielder last week, so trying to pick up the pieces and figure out and where who’s gonna fit in that spot,” said St. Peter head coach Heidi Niemeyer after the loss to Marshall. “The one thing we’ve talked about every every time time we struggle is we all have to pick each other up, and that’s what they did there.”
Game 1: Albert Lea — 7, St. Peter — 1
The tournament began for the Saints with a matchup against the Albert Lea Tigers. In a game that saw the Tigers hitters manage to consistently hit the ball into open spaces, St. Peter couldn’t match the firepower as the team managed just a single run on six hits.
A quartet of errors aided in the seven run showing for Albert Lea with Auden Anderson and Devyn Welp splitting the pitching duties for the Saints.
Cali Cross recorded two hits while Nora Whipps, Piper Winters, Riley Rubischko and Welp all added one hit each. Anderson drew a trio of walks with Whipps recording the lone RBI.
Game 2: St. Peter — 8, Worthington — 2
The quick turnaround to an elimination contest against the Worthington Trojans saw the Saints bats come to life after a slow start. They finished the game with eight runs on 12 hits while Welp earned the win in the circle pitching seven innings of two-run ball, striking out 10 while allowing four hits.
After the Trojans scored a run in the top of the first, St. Peter responded with back-to-back doubles from Cross and Whipps followed by a two-RBI single from Winters. In the bottom of the second, Lilian Filand crushed a ball to left field for a leadoff solo homerun before Cross hit an RBI single that scored Tiara Torres.
An error in right field allowed the Saints to score two more runs in the bottom of the fifth and in the bottom of the sixth, Anderson hit a two-run single to right that gave St. Peter an 8-1 lead. Worthington would get a run in the top of the seventh, but a groundout to Welp in the circle ended the game with the Saints advancing.
Cross, Whipps, Winters and Anderson all finished the game with two hits while Kali Erickson, Maddie Kamm, Filand and Welp all added a hit each.
Game 3: St. Peter — 11, Albert Lea — 1
The Saints got the opportunity to avenge their game one loss Thursday evening with a rematch against the Tigers. The game couldn’t have gone any more differently as St. Peter’s hot hitting continued with an 11 run and 11 hit performance.
Anderson returned to the circle for the Saints and pitched six innings, allowing five hits with one run while striking out seven.
In the bottom of the second, Anderson hit a leadoff single followed by an Erickson single to centerfield. Filand continued to hit the ball hard with a double to right that scored Torres, who was running for Anderson, and a sac fly from Kamm brought Erickson home. Filand scored a third run of the inning when Rubischko hit a groundout to short.
The runs continued to come in the top of the third when Anderson hit a two-run double followed by a one-run single by Erickson. After another hit and an error, Ribischko hit a single to deep second and on a bad throw, two more runs scored.
A sac fly RBI to centerfield off the bat of Welps then put the Saints up 9-0. Welps brought home another run in the top of the fifth with an RBI single and after the Tigers scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, the Saints scored the 11th run of the game on an error in the outfield.
Erickson finished the game with three hits while Filand and Anderson had two teach. Winters, Kamm, Rubischko and Welps all added hits for the Saints.
Game 4: Marshall — 4, St. Peter — 0
The season came to a head against the Marshall Tigers as the offense cooled down for the Saints while the issues in the field caught up with them. Anderson pitched the complete game allowing four runs, none of them earned, on seven hits while striking out eight hitters.
After two and a half scoreless innings Marshall got on the board with a pair of errors allowing them to score and put a runner on second with one out. Another mishap in the field allowed a second run to score and after a walk, back-to-back singles brought a third run across the plate.
A single in the bottom of the fifth resulted in the final run of the night and the Saints went down in order in both the sixth and seventh innings, bringing the season to a close.
Despite the troubles in the game and the impending end of the year, the attitude was nothing but positive for the players on the field as the team clearly enjoyed being out on the field together.
“It’s not always how we roll, but today was by far the best,” Neimeyer said of her team’s attitude. “Just seeing each other, picking each other up, knowing we’re gonna make the next play and having fun out there. We always say if it’s not fun, let’s go home, but they were having fun tonight.”
The end of the season also marks the end of the road for the five seniors on the St. Peter team. Maddie Kamm, Cali Cross, Riley Rubischko, Isabel Putz and Kali Erickson all completed their Saints athletic careers having contributed greatly to the program.
“They’re a great group,” Neimeyer said of her seniors. “Isabel got injured last last week and she actually had ACL surgery on the other knee two summers ago, so she’s been through it. They learned a lot this year about how to grow together, grow as a team and work together as a team.”
Despite the season coming to a close, the future looks bright for the Saints with several players who have contributed greatly set to return including the pitching duo of sophomore Auden Anderson and freshman Devyn Welp who will give the Saints a chance to win anytime they enter the circle.
“I can tell that this underclassmen group, they want it,” noted Neimeyer. “I can feel that they want it now and they will put in the time. They love playing ball in the summer and that’s what a majority of them do all summer long. So, it is exciting.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0