Apr 22, 2025
Photo by Samantha Davis. Minneota/Canby’s second baseman Dakota Pesch throws to first base after fielding a grounder in the second game of a doubleheader against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Tuesday night in Minneota. The Vikings won both games, 10-1 and 11-5.
MINNEOTA — The Minneota/Canby softball team picked up a pair of wins against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in a Camden Conference doubleheader Tuesday evening through aggressive hitting and base running, winning its fifth and sixth straight games.
The Vikings won the first game 10-1, followed up with an 11-5 victory in game 2.
“I thought the girls did really well. I thought the bats came alive, and we had a lot of offense going on, a lot of base running and taking advantage of situations,” Minneota/Canby head coach Heidi Louwagie said. “They [TMB] had a few rockets out there [to the outfield]. Tracy can hit the ball, and we got to the ball quickly and got it in. Very happy with our play.”
The Vikings took the first game with the help of efficient pitching and a five-run sixth inning behind an RBI triple from Joelle Otto, who also hit another triple in game 2. Minneota won the second game with another early built up lead, although TMB made a push to rally back with a four-run fourth inning.
Although the Panthers’ upheld tight defense throughout the night with anticipating Minneota’s leadoffs, the Vikings’ contagious offense decided the wins.
“I thought the first game was a really well played game, up through that sixth inning where the wheels kind of fell off … I thought until then it was pretty much a pitchers duel,” TMB head coach Karl Campbell said. “The second game, I was pleased with how our players battled back … Hennen can throw hard. She commands her rise-ball very well, and she mixes her interchange up, and she seemed to have our hitters off balance most of the day. They got a good team, and we needed to see a team like that to gauge where we’re at.”
For Minneota, Madison Hennen pitched nearly the entire night of both games. Otto was on the mound for 4 1/3 innings in the second game, before Hennen came in as a relief to finish off the night with a save.
TMB’s Melaina Ankrum pitched the entire first game, followed up with Gretchen Lanoue in the circle in game 2.
The Panthers have had a strong start to the season, winning their first three straight, with their last two wins prior to Tuesday coming by more than ten runs over Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Dawson-Boyd.
TMB (3-2) will next look to bounce back when it travels to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
The Vikings also continue on to an 8-1 start to the season. Of its eight wins so far, four of them have been shutouts.
Minneota/Canby (8-1) will look to keep its momentum going when it travels to Lakeview (2-3) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
“It’s one game at a time and one pitch at a time,” Louwagie said. “Just reminding them that it takes a lot to put the game together.”
GAME 1
Min/Canby 10, TMB 1
Minneota/Canby had a 5-1 lead heading into its final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, yet remained aggressive to bring in five more runs to help put the game away.
The Vikings loaded the bases up between a walk and a pair of hits with Gretta Buysse on first, Jayla Jerzak on second and Courtney Antony on third base.
Antony stole home off a passed ball, and Buysse eventually ran in off an Izabelle Hulzebos single to center field as well.
“We’ve got wheels. We got girls that can run, so we give them the green light, but also be smart,” Louwagie said. “Tracy is very aggressive with their throwbacks, and our girls aren’t used to that.”
Minneota/Canby kept the bases loaded when Otto stepped up to the plate and hit a triple to center field with two outs to score three more runs to give the Vikings their 10-1 final score advantage, before TMB could finish up the last out.
The Vikings first got on the board with a pair of runs in the first inning with both Izabelle and Kiersyn Hulzbos stealing home from third base off wild pitches.
TMB scored a run in the fourth inning with Ankrum reaching third base off a double to left center field, and stealing third off a wild pitch.
Ankrum visited home off a sacrifice pop fly to right field from Avery Torgeson, to cut into a 2-1 deficit.
Yet, the Vikings made up for the run by scoring another of their own in the bottom of the fourth with Hennen reaching first off a walk, which McKenzie Bednarek stepped in to courtesy run.
Bednarek was able to advance to third base, and stole home off a wild pitch to put Minneota up 3-1.
The Vikings also brought in a pair of runs in the fifth inning, both of which occurred off a dropped-3 strike, Buysse and Emily Walker each accounting for the runs after TMB threw to first to grab the out.
Although TMB was able to get two runners on base in its final at-bat, the Vikings’ defense was able to limit the Panthers from getting more momentum to end the game.
GAME 2
Min/Canby 11, TMB 5
The Panthers continued to have good defensive plays throughout the night, and withheld the Vikings from getting on the board in the first inning with bases loaded.
“Our defense has been playing well,” Campbell said. “There’s always things you can get better at, and we certainly are in that spot. This is only our fifth game in the year so far.”
But, a four-run second inning from Minneota sparked its offense which carried over the next few innings, to again pull away early.
Minneota’s four runs in the second was sparked by an RBI double to right field from Bednarek to score both Dakota Pesch and Walker from second and first base.
The final two runs came from Izabelle and Kiersyn each stealing home off a sacrifice out at first and a passed ball, respectively, for a 4-0 lead.
TMB brought its first run in the bottom of the second, with Lanoue scoring home off an Aliyah Loftness sacrifice single, after hitting a triple to center field.
Minneota stayed hot for another five runs between the third and fourth innings to build up a 9-1 lead, before TMB embarked on its four-run fourth inning rally to climb back to a 9-5 deficit.
The Panthers’ collected a string of hits, including singles from Loftness, Piper Freeburg, Braelynn Kirk and Ankrum, and a double to center field from Brianna Duscher, which led to four successful RBIs.
Louwagie made the pitching change from Otto to Hennen after the runs with one out, and Minneota was able to finish the inning and halt TMB’s offense.
“I thought Madison did great, and I thought Jo [Otto] did great,” Louwagie said. “They [TMB] ust got onto her. They started hitting her pretty hard, so that’s why I switched her out and had the confidence that Madison can come in and shut it down.”
The Vikings scored one more run in each the fifth and seventh inning, while holding the Panthers’ from getting hot again, to finish the 11-5 win.
Otto hit a triple to right field, and stole home off a passed ball for Minneota’s seventh inning and final run of the night.
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