USC defeats MCW to win Section title – faribaultcountyregister.com

The United South Central Rebels pose with their Section 2A Championship trophy after defeating the Martin County West Mavericks 6-0 in the deciding game of the tourney. The Rebels’ first game of the tournament will be played at Caswell Park on Tuesday, June 3, at a time to be determined.
The United South Central girls softball team is headed to the State Softball Tournament for the first time in school history. And, they punched their ticket to the State Tournament in dramatic fashion.
The Rebels won the Section 2A Softball Tournament on Thursday night, May 29, after two games against Martin County West. The Rebels lost the first game to the Mavericks by a score of 6-5, which forced a second game, but the Rebels shut out the Mavericks in that second game, 6-0, and became Section 2A champs and earned a trip to State.
The State Softball Tournament is set for June 3-6, with most of the games at Caswell Park in North Mankato.
“Both games were similar with us jumping out to early leads,” USC coach TJ Schmidtke said. “We lost our fire in the first game but kept our focus and played better in the second game. I am happy for the girls and so proud of them.”
USC 6, MCW 0
In the second and deciding game the USC Rebels jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. They scored three more runs in the fifth inning while shutting down the MCW Mavericks.
“After the first game, we knew we could play better,” senior catcher Taylor Schroeder commented. “We were second in the Section last year and we wanted to win it this year. It was just a matter of going out and making the plays.”
The Rebels outhit the Mavs 11 to 5. Mariah Anderson and Alivia Bruegger led the way for USC with three hits each. Anderson had a triple and Bruegger had a double. Taylor Schroeder also banged out a double.
Lilly Lutteke had two hits and Ivy O’Rourke and Olivia Bungum each had one hit.
USC left seven runners stranded and MCW left six on base in the game.
Anderson pitched all seven innings of the game and gave up five hits but no runs, no walks and struck out eight batters.
“I was more nervous the first game,” Anderson said. “I got loose in the second game and we played with more energy. It helps to have a good defense playing behind you.”
MCW’s Sydney Crow took the loss for the Mav’s, pitching a third of an inning and giving up three runs on four hits and did not walk or strike out any batters. Maddie Carlson pitched five and two thirds innings for the Mavs and gave up three runs on seven hits and walked one batter and struck out 10.
MCW 6, USC 5
In the first game of the night, the USC Rebels jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the very first inning, but were unable to score another run in the game. Meanwhile, the MCW Mavericks scored one run in the second inning, two in the third and fourth innings and one more in the sixth to take a come from behind 6-5 win and forcing a second game Thursday night.
That second game had a rain delay before it was finally over.
The Mavs outhit the Rebels 7-5 in the game. Ivy O’Rourke went 2 for 3 at the plate and Taylor Schroeder, Alivia Bruegger and Lilly Lutteke each had one hit.
Mariah Anderson pitched all seven innings for the Rebels and gave up the six runs on seven hits, walked five batters and struck out nine.
Maddie Carlson started the game pitching for the Mavs and gave up five runs on three hits, walked two and struck out none, in less than a third of an inning. Sydney Crow came in and pitched the seven innings and gave up no runs, two hits, walked one and struck out three.
The loss was the first one for the Rebels all season, and it forced a second game against the Mavs to determine which team would go on to the State Tournament.
USC 2, Sleepy Eye 1
The United South Central Rebel girls’ softball team won two thrilling games in the Section 2A Softball Tournament finals on Saturday, May 24, and that propelled them to be just one (or two) games away from a trip to the State Tournament.
The Rebel girls defeated the Sleepy Eye Storm by a score of 2-1 in the first game on Saturday, then took on the Martin County West Mavericks in the second game that same day and downed them by the identical same score of 2-1.
Now the Rebels will take on the winner of the Elimination Bracket in a game on Thursday, May 29. That will be against either Sleepy Eye, Martin County West or New Ulm Cathedral.
Whichever team it is would have to defeat the USC Rebels twice in order to gain a trip to State, whereas the Rebels only have to win once.
All games are at Caswell Park. The Rebels will play at 5 p.m. on Thursday for the first game and at 7 p.m. if a second game is necessary.
USC 2, MCW 1
In their second game on Saturday, May 24, the Rebels downed the MCW Mavs 2-1.
USC scored one run in the first inning and another in the second inning to take the early lead. MCW scored their only run in the fifth inning to get close, but did not score again.
The Rebels outhit the Mavs 6 to 3. Mariah Anderson, Olivia Bungum, Taylor Schroeder, Alivia Bruegger, Ivy O’Rourke and Hannah Niebuhr each had one hit. Both teams stranded four runners on base during the game.
Anderson was the winning pitcher for USC, going all seven innings, giving up the one run on three hits, walked two batters and struck out 13.
Maddie Carlson took the loss for the Mavs. She pitched six innings and gave up two runs, both earned, on six hits, walked none and struck out four.
USC 2, Sleepy Eye 1
In their first game on Saturday, May 24, the Rebels had to come from behind for the 2-1 victory.
The Storm scored the first run of the game which did not come until the fourth inning.
Finally, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Taylor Schroeder hit a two-run home run that put the Rebels up 2-1 and that was the final score.
Both teams had three hits. Schroeder had two of USC’s hits (including the home run) and Addie Mithun had the other hit.
Mariah Anderson pitched seven innings for the Rebels and took the win. She gave up the one run and the three hits, walked two batters and struck out 13.
Taylor Beekner took the loss for the Storm, giving up the two runs, both earned and the three hits, walked three batters and struck out seven.
The Rebels left four runners on base and the Storm stranded five.
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