Softball Falls Short in Region XIII Championship

The Lake Region State College Softball team lost in the Region XIII championship against Dawson Community College.

Region XIII Tournament 5/5/17 – 5/7/17

Game 1: vs. Williston State College 5 – 3 Win

                Hanna Gary (14-0)

The first game of the Region XIII Tournament placed the Royals against the winner of the 4/5 play-in game and Williston State College. Throughout the regular season they went 3-1 against the Teton's with an average of 9 runs scored per contest. This was a potential set back game as the Lady Royals hadn't played in a week and WSC was coming off of a good win against Bismarck State College. Sophomore Hanna Gary took the mound for the Lady Royals. She had a great outing on the mound and kept things going until the Lady Royals could get the bats going. It took until the 4th for the Lady Royals to finally squeeze a run across until the fourth inning. Once that first one came across the rest followed. The Lady Royals racked up their only five runs behind clutch hits from Sophomore's Haunani Morton, a double, and Jordan Gudmundson, an 2 out RBI single. Defensively we were sound as been the theme this season by only committing one error. Hanna was able to attack the rest of the way to give us the first round win.

Outstanding Performance: Haunani Morton: she hit .500, 1 Double, and 1 RBI

Game 2: vs. Dawson Community College 1 – 4 Loss

                Amber Stewart (8-3) 9 Strike Outs

This contest was a hard fought battle between both the #1 and #2 seeds in the tournament. The Lady Royals were victorious in both contests against DCC this year. This one was going to be a tough and vital game in the tournament as the winner was off until the championship. This game saw a tough defensive battle between the two teams as the only run production happened in the sixth inning. Dawson was able to squeak one across the plate in the top of the sixth inning and had runners on second and third with two outs. Amber Stewart, who pitched well throughout the contest, was up two strikes on the hitter and just missed her spot and the Lady Buc hitter was able to make her pay by hitting a 3 run home run. The team tried to come right back in the bottom of the seventh as the Lady Royals were able to score one and had runners on first and second with MonDak Conference MVP Emma Gary at the plate with two outs. They were still in a position to tie at the end of the game but the Lady Royals could not convert. They came up short falling to DCC 4-1.

Outstanding Performance: Amber Stewart: she went all 7 Innings, allowing 7 Hits, 4 Earned Runs, 1 Walk, and Collected 9 Total Strike Outs

Game 3: vs. Williston State College 7 – 3 Win

                Hanna Gary (15-0) 0 Earned Runs

With the tough loss to Dawson Community College the Lady Royals needed to regroup quickly as it was now a win or go home situation versus Williston State College with a quick turn around. This game the  hitting carried them through collecting 15 total hits in the contest. The Lady Royals struck first and were able to get the first run across in the first inning. They kept the runs coming after scoring in the middle innings to pad the lead. The Lady Royals infield had some uncharacteristic errors which is something that they have taken pride in all season. Hanna Gary gave the Lady Royals another strong outing and didn't let the errors change her approach. She continued to attack the Williston hitters and had them on leaning almost the entire game. LRSC got the win 7-3.

Outstanding Performance: Hanna Gary: she hit .750, Scored 1 Run, collected 2 RBI's, and added 1 Home Run to lead the Royals offensively. Pitching she was able to go 7 Innings Pitched, only allowed 3 Runs on 7 Hits, 2 Walks, and garnished 1 Strike Out

Game 4: at Dawson Community College 7 – 14 Loss

                Amber Stewart (8-4) 2 Strike Outs

The Region Championship game saw the Lady Royals facing Dawson Community College for the second time in two days. With the intensity of both teams and the crowd everyone knew this was going to be a hard fought battle. The girls were able to squeeze one across in the first and get the momentum right away. Dawson responded in a big way by putting up 6 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Errors plagued the Royals in the first inning. The defense just couldn't buckle down and get through them and build on the confidence in the field. The Lady Royals did bounce back with three runs in the top of the second inning to cut the DCC lead to 2 heading into the home half. That was as close as they would get. Head Coach Ben Morris said, "The main thing we couldn't do as a team defensively today was get that important first out of the inning. In the five innings that we played we were able to accomplish this once. That inning we held them scoreless. The bats never failed as we were still in the game offensively, but just couldn't hold them enough to catch back up. Amber started out strong, but the errors proved too much for her to overcome. Hanna Gary came in with the score 4 – 8 and did a great job of attacking hitters, but the mishaps in the field just kept coming."

Outstanding Performance:

Emma Gary: she hit .750, had 3 RBI's, and one Double

Cherie Malacas: she hit .500, and Scored 3 Runs

Head Coach Ben Morris said, "Overall the tournament didn't end like we had hoped it would as a team. We were able to fight hard in every game and put us in a position to compete every inning. This Regional Final will stick with me, and the team, for some time. This game, however, doesn't reflect who we are as a team and overshadow the amazing accomplishments that these women have accumulated throughout this season. The returning freshman have a hunger already for next season and are ready to put us in another position to gain Lake Region State College's first Region XIII Championship."