MANKATO — An early lead never hurts.
A five-run first inning put Mankato East softball ahead early. The Cougars didn’t stop there either, taking a 13-3 five-inning mercy victory over Winona Thursday in East’s 2026 home debut.
“I love their attitude,” East coach Joe Madson said. “We got a lot of hustle. We got a lot of kids that are having a lot of fun playing the game. It’s pretty infectious, and that’s fun.”
East (2-0) jumped ahead in the first thanks to a two-run single from London Hart, an RBI ground out from Eloise Fry and two untimely miscues by Winona. The somewhat slowly, inning by inning, the Cougars tacked on to their lead.
An RBI single from Emily Hacker and RBI doubles from Ella Fugazzi and Carlie Wendinger in the second pushed the lead to 8-1. Hacker, who finished 3 for 4, stole two bases and scored twice, added a two-run single in the third to go up 10-2.
Then, with one out in the fifth East catcher Harper Stangl came up to the plate. She ripped two pitches up the gut in her first two at bats. In her third plate appearance she watched one pitch go by that she admits she let by. She wasn’t going to let that slide again.
She didn’t waste much time either, swinging at the first pitch. The hit sailed to the grass in right field, and Winona didn’t get a clean play on the ball.
Madson waved Stangl home from third base, sprinting mightily. She slid into home plate as the throw was coming in.
Safe. An inside-the-park home run for an 11-3 lead.
“I just kept running faster,” Stangl said. “I was like ‘I’m scoring.’”
The fifth inning ended with an RBI triple from Hart and a Wendingler pop fly to right resulted in an error which allowed Hart to score.
Fugazzi finished 3 for 3 and scored three times and stole a base. Hart was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and a stolen base. Wendinger was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base. Stangl scored three runs and stole two bases. As a team, East struck out one time and drew two walks.
Seventh-grader Chloe Grams earned her second win of her young career, allowing three runs (two earned) off eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Of her 70 pitches, 50 were strikes.
The Cougars hit the road for a doubleheader against Rochester John Marshall beginning at noon Saturday.