Southland Rebels softball outslugs Rushford-Peterson 19-12 in Section 1A East semifinal

After a 10-4 victory over No. 7 seed Houston in the opening round of the Section 1A East girls’ fastpitch softball tournament Monday, the No. 2 seeded Southland Rebels took on the third-seeded Rushford-Peterson Trojans at Rose Creek City Park Tuesday, and in a slugfest between the two squads, the Rebels used 21 hits and a pair of 6-run innings to outlast the Trojans 19-12.

Rushford-Peterson erupted for seven runs in the top of the 2nd inning to take a 7-1 lead, but the Rebels came right back with six runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to knot the game at seven apiece.  The Trojans answered with a single run in the top of the 3rd to edge their way back in front 8-7, but Southland then took a 12-8 lead with three runs in the bottom of the inning and two more in the fourth.  Rushford-Peterson wasn’t going away, however, as they battled back to cut the deficit to two runs twice at 12-10 and 13-11, but a six-run bottom of the 6th for Southland proved to be the deciding factor in the 19-12 final.

The two teams combined for 31 hits, 21 for Southland and 10 for Rushford-Peterson, and the two squads also combined to commit 13 errors, seven for the Rebels and six for the Trojans that led to only 15 of the game’s 31 runs being earned.  Offensively for Southland,  Bailey Johnson and Hattie Wiste both tallied monster games with Johnson going 4 for 4 with two doubles, four RBI’s and two runs scored, Wiste was also 4 for 4 with a triple, a home run and a team-high five RBI’s, plus four more runs scored, Kiyanna Meyer went 3 for 4 for the Rebels with two doubles and four runs knocked in, Julia Kiefer was a perfect 3 for 3 with a RBI and three runs scored, Maren Wehrenberg was 2 for 4 with two runs scored, Lynsey Wilson picked up two hits in four official trips to the plate with a pair of runs scored, Olivia Matheis went 1 for 5 with two runs knocked in and two more scored, and Lauren Nielson and Riana Ulven were both 1 for 5 for Southland, with Nielson tallying a RBI and Ulven knocking in two runs.

Kiyanna Meyer earned the win in the circle for the Rebels as she pitched six innings and gave up 11 runs, four earned on nine hits, striking out one and walking two, while Laney Weis came in to pitch the 7th inning and gave up one run, which was unearned on one hit, striking out two and walking none.

With the win, their sixth in their last seven game, the Rebels are now 12-7 on the season, and Southland will now take on No. 1 seed Wabasha-Kellogg in the Section 1A East final, with first pitch at Wabasha-Kellogg High School scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon.