Buccaneers Hang On to Defeat Bethlehem Academy Softball

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers scored four runs early and hung on to defeat the Bethlehem Academy Cardinals 4-3 in a Gopher Conference softball showdown Monday.

The clouds moved in and the winds picked up during the game.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown continues to be hot at the plate, scoring 28 runs during their four-game win streak.

Cardinal senior Shelby Meyer started in the pitching circle and surrendered seven hits to the 14 batters she faced while allowing all of the Buccaneer runs. Freshman Delaney Donahue came on in relief and allowed just one hit in five innings of work to keep the game close for Bethlehem Academy.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown freshman pitcher Trista Hering had seven strikeouts in the win and did not walk a single batter.

With two outs in the first, the Buccaneers got back-to-back singles by senior Kate Masberg and junior Hailee Tegmeier, but Meyer recorded her only strikeout for the third out of the inning.

Bethlehem Academy was very aggressive at the plate, attacking the first pitch often and recorded just one base runner their first time through the order. Meanwhile Waterville-Elysian-Morristown worked the count against Meyer.

In the second inning with one out, Meyer walked the seventh batter McKenzie Kuball, designated player senior Riley Luebben jumped on the first pitch for a single.

Her pinch runner, Ellie Ready, stole second base to place runners at second and third for No. 9 hitter senior Hayley Baker. Baker cracked a two-run single on a 1-2 count for the first score of the game.

In the bottom of the second, Meyer led off with a double but was stranded at third after a ground out, pop out and strikeout ended Hering's 10-pitch inning.

In the top of the third, Masberg was up 2-0 in the count when she laced a lead-off double to get things going for the Bucs. Tegmeier followed with a single that was hit so sharply Masberg had to stop at third. Tegmeier then stole second and junior right fielder Nicole Nuetzman clobbered a 0-2 fastball from Meyer for a two-run single and Meyer's day was done in the pitching circle.

Donahue inherited a runner at first with nobody out and ended the inning with that runner at third after just eight pitches.

In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals had a two-out rally when junior Tess Glenzinski hit the ball down the left field line for a double. Senior Breanna Degrood hit an RBI single and junior catcher Grace Viland clubbed a RBI double.

Shelby Meyer worked the count full and appeared to have a walk on ball four when the umpire said the count was 3-2. She popped out to Buccaneer eighth-grade catcher Autumn Taylor, who made an outstanding diving catch to end the inning.

Donahue continued her mastery of the hot Waterviille-Elysian-Morristown hitters, allowing just one hit the rest of the way and pitched around back-to-back errors in the fourth inning.

Hering allowed just one hit over the fourth and fifth innings and when she got into a jam in the sixth got two big strikeouts to get her out of the inning with just one run with the third out recorded at the plate.

Viland came into the game hitting .610 and hammered a second double to right center field to start the sixth inning.

Meyer was safe on an error and I remember saying I doubted the Cardinals would try to steal because they were behind and it was late in the game. Boy was I wrong. Meyer did steal during a strike out and was in scoring position with the tying run. Junior third baseman Jessica Oathoudt tallied an RBI single to score Viland.

After a strike out for the second out of the inning, Delaney Donahue hit a dribbler in front of the plate and the catcher threw the ball wide of first base.

Meyer tried to score and was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Bethlehem Academy had the runner on third base with two outs but could not score and the Buccaneers extended their winning streak to four straight, handing the Cardinals just their second conference loss of the season.

Our Faribault State Farm Insurance Agents Faribault players of the game were Delaney Donahue with her pitching performance, Grace Viland for her two double game and Tess Glenzinski who had two hits, a run scored and a stolen base in the contest.

Both teams had eight hits in my scorebook. The Cardinals had three errors but none led to a score and the Bucs had two errors.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown left eight runners on base, five in scoring position, and Bethlehem Academy stranded six runners with four in scoring position.

The Bucs are now 9-5 and the Cardinals 10-4 overall on the season.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown plays at Kenyon-Wanamingo on Tuesday and Bethlehem Academy hosts United South Central on Thursday.

The Buccaneer baseball team scored a 11-1 five inning win over Bethlehem Academy in Waterville on Monday.

Bladyn Bartelt got the win with three strikeouts in three innings of work and Dallas McBroom had two hits and  two RBI for the Bucs, now 9-3 on the season.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown had eight hits and the Cardinals were held to three.