Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Softball

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

From a nailbiter to a blowout, the Buccaneers fell on both ends of the spectrum in recent victories.

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown softball team held on to beat Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 5-4 Saturday in Waterville and rolled at United South Central 16-0 in four innings Monday in Wells.

“JWP is a solid team,” said WEM coach Crystal Lamont. “We didn’t have our best offensive game but we did enough to get the win.”

WEM scored one in the second inning and led 3-0 after five and 5-1 after six.

JWP scored three in the top of the seventh and had runners on second and third base poised to tie or take the lead. WEM pitcher Trista Hering shut the door with a strikeout swinging.

Only two of her four runs allowed were earned and she struck out 13 Bulldogs.

“Brielle Bartelt had a big game on her birthday,” said WEM coach Crystal Lamont. “She was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and made some very athletic plays in the field and on the bases.”

Autumn Taylor made an impact off the bench. After missing most of the season to injury, she came in and made a tough catch in the outfield and had a key two-out RBI in the fifth inning.

A scoreless first inning belied what waited ahead for WEM against USC.

The Bucs chipped away with two runs in the second and blew the game open with nine in the second and five in the fourth to force the 15-run mercy rule.

All WEM hitters reached base and all but one had a hit. The lone Buc to not get a hit was Makayla Paulson who walked and scored a run in her only plate appearance.

Hailie Tegmeier hit a home run and joined Kylie Pittmann, Megan Adank, Maddy Meskan, Brielle Bartelt and Allison Rients in recording two hits. Adank had two doubles.

“Every at-bat they have the potential to hit a gap,” Lamont said of senior leaders Adank and Tegmeier. “It’s nice having that deep threat in the lineup.”

Hering threw a one-hitter, walked none and struck out seven in an efficient outing.

WEM moves to 9-3 on the season and is off until 4:30 p.m. Thursday when Maple River comes to town. The Bucs beat the Eagles 7-2 on April 26.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 16, United South Central 0 (4 innings)

W — 029 50X X

U — 000 00X X

WEM hitting — Hailie Tegmeier 2-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 BB; Kylie Pittmann 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B; Megan Adank 2-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B; Maddy Meskan 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI; Brielle Bartelt 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI; Allison Rients 2-3, 2 R; Nicole Nuetzman 1-3, R, RBI, BB; Ellie Ready 1-3, R, RBI; Autumn Taylor 1-3, R, RBI, BB; Makayla Paulson 0-0, R, BB

WEM pitching — Trista Hering (W) 4IP-1H-0ER-0R-0BB-7SO

WEM 5, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 4 (Saturday)

J — 000 001 3

W — 010 112 X

WEM hitting — Bartelt 3-3, R, 2 RBI; Rients 2-3, R; Pittmann 1-4, 2 RBI; Taylor 1-1, RBI; Tegmeier 1-2, 2B, BB; Adank 1-2, 2 R, 2B, BB; Nuetzman 1-4; Meskan 0-2, BB

WEM pitching — Hering (W) 7IP-7H-2ER-4R-2BB-13SO

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

Two games, two different results.

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown softball team crushed Medford 7-0 in seven innings in game one of Thursday’s road doubleheader, but succumbed to the Tigers 4-2 in five innings in game two.

“I was disappointed in our split tonight but Medford has become a solid program,” said WEM coach Crystal Lamont. “We played well the first game. We took advantage of some walks and had some timely hits. Trista [Hering] pitched a great game getting some key strikeouts.”

WEM scored a run in the first but was shutout by Medford’s Mackenzie Paulson for the next four innings. The Bucs’ bats woke up for three runs in the sixth and again in the seventh.

Megan Adank had a two-run single in the sixth and four other Bucs had lone RBIs.

WEM outhit Medford 7-4.

The Tigers found power in game two, slugging three home runs as part of seven hits.

Cleaner defense and a more opportunistic offense could have mitigated the damage.

“A two-run shot came after a defensive error that could have been a play to end the (third) inning,” Lamont said. “We gave ourselves a shot at the end. We left a runner at third in the fourth and bases loaded in the fifth. We couldn’t get the clutch hit to tie the game.”

Next up for WEM is an 11 a.m. Saturday home matinee against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 7, Medford 0 (Game one)

W — 100 003 3

M — 000 000 0

WEM hitting — Nicole Nuetzman 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B; Kylie Pittmann 2-4, 2 R, 2B; Hailie Tegmeier 2-4, RBI, SB; Megan Adank 1-3, 2 RBI

WEM pitching — Trista Hering (W) 7IP-4H-0ER-0R-0BB-13SO-0HR

Medford 4, WEM 2 (5 innings)

M — 012 01X X

W — 010 10X X

WEM hitting — Ellie Ready 2-3, R; Allison Rients 1-2, RBI; Maddy Meskan 1-3; Adank 1-3; Makayla Paulson 0-1, RBI, HBP

WEM pitching — Hering (L) 5IP-7H-2ER-4R-1BB-4SO-3HR

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers put the pedal to the floor with a four-run first inning and kept the bats working throughout their 11-1 win over Blooming Prairie.

Nicole Nuetzman, Hailie Tegmeier and Maddy Meskan all singled and came around to score in the first, with Ellie Ready walking and scoring to cap off the four-run inning.

Nuetzman and Tegmeier each had two hits in the game, as did Kylie Pittmann, Megan Adank, Makayla Paulson and Allison Rients.

“We had numerous people with multiple hits. Any time you can say that, you have to be happy with your offense,” Buccaneers coach Crystal Lamont said. “We were able to get on base and drive them in.”

Rients singled and scored in the second inning and Paulson hit her first varsity home run in the fourth to give the Buccaneers a 6-0 lead.

They added five more in the sixth to end the game early, but it was way more insurance than pitcher Trista Hering needed. She pitched six innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and four walks, while striking out 16 of the 25 batters she faced.

“Trista threw another commanding game,” Lamont said. “She was really hitting her spots tonight. She had 16 strikeouts and made it easy on our defense.”

The Buccaneers will hope to take that momentum into Tuesday, when they face off with Hayfield. The Vikings are coming off three straight wins after a rough start to the season.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 11, Blooming Prairie 1 (6 innings)

W – 410 105 X

B – 000 001 X

WEM hitting – Makayla Paulson 2-3, HR, 2R, RBI; Hailie Tegmeier 2-3, 2R, BB; Kylie Pittmann 2-4, RBI, R, 2B; Nicole Nuetzman 2-4, 2 RBI, R; Megan Adank 2-4, RBI; Allison Rients 2-3, R; Brielle Bartelt 1-2, 2RBI, 2B; Lindsay Condon 1-1, RBI, SB; Maddy Meskan 1-3, RBI; Jordan Green 0-0, 2R; Addyson Taylor 0-0, R; Ellie Ready 0-1, R, BB

WEM pitching – Hering (W) 6IP-3H-1ER-1R-4BB-16SO-99P

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

Friday was a boring day in the field for the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown defense.

WEM’s Hering pitched a five-inning perfect game in Friday’s 10-0 win at St. Clair/Mankato Loyola. She struck out 13 of 15 batters faced.

“Trista dominated on the mound tonight. It was the first perfect game of her career,” said WEM coach Crystal Lamont. “Our defense only had to make two plays behind her and she took care of the rest.”

The WEM Buccaneers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two thanks to a big hit.

“Ellie Ready had her first varsity home run and it was a grand slam,” Lamont said. “Ellie got our momentum going and our bats stayed hot from there.”

The bottom of the lineup came up big for the Bucs as Hering and Allison Rients both went 2-for-3 with an RBI from the sixth and seventh spot. Ready was ninth.

Hailie Tegmeier and Nicole Nuetzman doubled for the second game in a row.

Friday was what the doctor ordered after the team’s perfect record was broken earlier in the week.

“After a couple disappointing losses this week it was great to see the girls get things back on track,” Lamont said. “We plan to carry this into next week and start to build for the playoffs.”

WEM improved to 5-2 on the season and return to Gopher Conference play 4:30 p.m. Monday at Blooming Prairie. The Awesome Blossoms are 4-4.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 10, St. Clair/Mankato Loyola 0 (5 innings)

W — 041 50X X

S — 000 00X X

WEM hitting — Trista Hering 2-3, RBI; Allison Rients 2-3, R, RBI; Ellie Ready 1-4, R, HR (GS), 4 RBI; Hailie Tegmeier 1-2, R, 2B; Nicole Nuetzman 1-2, R, SB, 2B; Makayla Paulson 1-2, SB, R; Kylie Pittmann 1-4, R

WEM pitching — Hering (W) 5IP-0H-0ER-0R-0BB-13SO-0HR

Mike Randleman – Faribault Daily News

Both teams had opportunities early on. Bethlehem Academy was the one to break the dam.

The visiting BA Cardinals scored four runs in the third inning to break a scoreless game in a 6-5 win against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Thursday.

Nicole Menard led off the third with a double followed by a Tess Glenzinski walk and later a two-run hit by Jessica Oathoudt to start the scoring.

Two Cardinals had all six RBIs. Grace Ashley went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a double and Oathoudt was also 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Top to bottom, BA coach Maren Viland was pleased with how they made a “good pitcher” like WEM’s Trista Hering work.

“We were really patient,” Viland said. “Even the innings we didn’t score, we only had three or four batters, but we dragged at-bats out and put pressure. (Hering) has a good rise ball but we were able to lay off of it.”

BA tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth to go up 6-1.

WEM’s won or been in every game this season. The Buccaneers weren’t about to go down quietly.

They tacked on a run in the fifth, two in the sixth and another in the seventh. WEM coach Crystal Lamont was hopeful for just a little bit more.

“(We) left too many runners in scoring position tonight,” Lamont said. “We hit some gaps and got some doubles but we couldn’t drive them in.”

Lamont credited leadoff hitter Kylie Pittmann for a “great night offensively.” She went 3-for-4 with a run scored, two RBIs and came a home run away from hitting for the cycle.

Nicole Nuetzman, Makayla Paulson and Ellie Ready also had two-hit games.

Though BA pitcher Tess Glenzinski didn’t have her best stuff, she buckled down to close out a white knuckle seventh inning.

Hailie Tegmeier led off with a double. After a flyout, Tegmeier scored on a ground-ball error.

Intermittent rain during the game made for a wet ball. Viland joked it only seemed to rain when Glenzinski was in the circle.

Glenzinski forced another flyout and ended the game on a strikeout of Paulson, who represented the tying run.

“I’m so happy for her, as a senior, to finish the game” Viland said. “That girl she struck out had a single and crushed a double, so it was a little nerveracking.”

BA left 10 runners on base and WEM eight.

BA stays on the road to take on United South Central 4:30 p.m. Monday.

WEM heads out of conference to take on St. Clair/Mankato Loyola 4:30 p.m. Friday in a game rescheduled from April 16.

Bethlehem Academy 6, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 5

B — 004 020 0

W — 001 012 1

BA hitting — Grace Ashley 3-4, 4 RBI, 2B; Jessica Oathoudt 2-4, R, 2 RBI; Grace Viland 1-4, R; Kate Trump 1-4, R; Kate Jasinski 1-4; Nicole Menard 1-1, 2B

BA pitching — Tess Glenzinski (W) 7IP-12H-4ER-5R-1BB-4SO

WEM hitting — Kylie Pittmann 3-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B; Nicole Nuetzman 2-4, R, RBI, 2B; Makayla Paulson 2-4, 2B; Ellie Ready 2-3, R, 2B; Maddy Meskan 1-4, RBI; Hailie Tegmeier 1-4, 2B; Megan Adank 1-4

WEM pitching — Trista Hering (L) 7IP-8H-5ER-6ER-6BB-8SO