MANKATO — Senior Designated Player Aubrey Bobby delivered a trio of hits and drove in four runs Wednesday afternoon as the Mankato East softball team overcame an early 4-0 deficit to down Owatonna 7-4 in the first game of a Big Nine Conference softball doubleheader at Thomas Park.
East completed the sweep with a 7-6 win in Game 2.
After the Huskies (2-8 overall, 2-6 in Big Nine) took advantage of a pair of East errors to tally four runs on three hits off seventh-grader Chloe Grams in the top of the first inning, Bobby’s heroics sparked a run of seven unanswered runs to close things out. Sophomore third baseman Ella Fugazzi chipped in two hits and a run-scoring sacrifice fly ball as the Cougars improved to 7-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Nine.
“We knew we had lots of time to come back in the game,” Fugazzi said. “It’s not a times game but it’s based on innings so I think we were kind of down but yet we felt we got this. Chloe was hitting her spots more and gained confidence after we started getting hits and putting runs on the board. I just went up there trying to hit the ball hard and if I put it in play good things would happen.
“We all support each other and are here to live the moment.”
East scored a run in the second when Fugazzi doubled into right-center field and scored again on Bobby’s soft liner into right-center field. After the Cougars went down in order in the third, a double down the left-field line by senior shortstop Emily Hacker along with Fugazzi’s single and senior second baseman Carlie Wendinger’s set up Bobby’s two-run single an inning later.
“I loved how Chloe stayed with it,” East coach Joe Madson said. “She’s a young kid who has had a lot of success pitching at her age level so now things are a little more amped up at the high school level. I thought her velocity was terrific the last few innings and that kept us there. We didn’t get a ton of hits today but Aubrey Bobby had some huge hits with runners in scoring position and two outs.
“Aubrey got us going offensively and then we were able to scrape out a few more hits and runs. We were able to do some base running and when you do that good things will happen. Early on, we were getting contributions one through nine but lately it has been the top five so it was nice to see the middle and bottom do some good things for us. We stayed aggressive and bunted the ball too.”
East took a 5-4 lead in the fifth frame without getting a base hit before Bobby capped her memorable game with an RBI single into the identical spot of her previous two hits. Senior first baseman Eloise Fry’s bunt single along with freshman center fielder Kenley Staunton’s RBI ground ball that was mishandled produced the game’s final run.
“We didn’t know where things were going to go after the slow start,” Bobby said. “We had great bats going yesterday so we wanted to keep that going today. We weren’t getting on it right away but then it started to click and we quit popping up so much. We became more selective with the pitches and sometimes the little fly balls were better than ground balls.
“I had my first home run yesterday against Red Wing so I went up there with the same momentum I had yesterday. I just wanted to find my pitch and I hit in the same exact spot every time. Maybe they weren’t the hardest hits but it brought runs in and got us on the board when we were down.”
Bobby kept rolling in Game 2, finishing 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. The Cougars threw out what would have been the game-tying run at home plate to end the game.
Hacker was 2 for 3 with a triple, an RBI and a stolen base. London Hat had two stolen bases and scored twice. Fugazzi was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base.
Kenley Staunton and Harper Stangl each had an RBI and a stolen base. Ella Hudspith claimed the win, allowing six runs (five earned) off 10 hits with no walks and two strikeouts across seven innings.
East continues a five-game in three stretch Thursday when it faces Northfield (5:45 p.m.) and Rochester Mayo (7:15 p.m.) at Caswell Park.