NORTH MANKATO – There were times when it looked like the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial softball team might be heading toward its first loss.
In the section championship game.
But there were two outs with two runners on in the bottom of a 1-1 game with Le Sueur-Henderson, and junior shortstop Sydney Kramer was at the plate.
“I just knew I had to get a hit,” she said. “There were two outs so if I didn’t get a hit, we were going to extra innings. We didn’t want that.”
Kramer ripped a single to right-center, allowing Addison Voges to score from second as the top-seeded Knights (24-0) prevailed 2-1 over LSH to win the Section 2AA championship game Thursday at Caswell Park.
It was the third straight section championship for LCWM.
“We’ve had some close games this year,” LCWM coach Tony Parsons said. “But that’s only the second time we’ve had to come from behind late to win.”
The Knights looked like they might go ahead in the fourth inning as Kramer and Piper Hellekson started with consecutive singles, then each advanced on a passed ball. However, the Knights were not able to score a run as LSH pitcher Victoria Hutton got out of the jam with a couple of pop-ups.
The Giants (22-7), which had won section championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023 with a state championship in 2021, used that momentum to take the lead in the fifth. Annyssa Christ led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by McKenna Andresen. After a stolen base, D’Lisa Flores’ infield chopper allowed the run to score.
“After we got behind, I just told the girls we had six outs to make something happen,” coach Parsons said. “But the nice thing about this team is that we have good hitters in our lineup, one through nine.
“We have nine clutch hitters.”
LCWM tied the game in the sixth inning on Grace Thorson’s sacrifice fly. The Giants threatened in the seventh after a leadoff double by Ruby Fritz, but Nettie Parsons got two strikeouts to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, No. 9 batter Addison Voges and Nettie Parsons had consecutive singles, setting up Kramer’s two-out rope to right-center, with Voges scoring ahead of the throw.
“We just had to play our game,” Kramer said. “We just had to worry about getting hits and fielding and not worry about the score.”
Kramer and Kylee Hall each had two hits for LCWM, while Nettie Parsons pitched a four-hitter with six strikeouts.
Fritz had two of LSH’s hits.
The Knights will open state tournament play on Tuesday at Caswell Park.
“This (section championship) is extra special because this team is so close,” Kramer said. “It’s a great opportunity for us.”