NORTH MANKATO — Some days Mankato West softball looks like a bonafide top ten threat. On other days, not so much.
Friday, the Scarlets closed out their roller coaster regular season by dropping a 6-1 nonconference decision to Hopkins at Caswell Park. West (12-7) managed only five hits against Royals’ right-hander Sofia Enslin while West eighth-grader Olivia Grack allowed six earned runs on nine hits while striking out five and walking three.
“It’s been a year where every day seems to come up with another surprise,” West coach Sara Tostenson said. “It has been difficult, but I am proud of how they continue to push through it. Sports are hard and if they weren’t everyone would be doing it. We’ve taken it as a challenge and that’s made us better and I feel we’re at our strongest right now.
“We just needed to hit better today.”
Hopkins (11-11) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when a lead-off walk, a sacrifice bunt and Kayci Heistrom’s RBI single plated a run. West tied things in the bottom of the inning on junior second baseman Taylor Fitzloff’s belted a home run over the left-center field fence. Fitzloff added another single for the Scarlets, who also got hits from senior catcher Lydia Banse, freshman shortstop Erianna Ubongen and eighth-grader first baseman Cofa Aanenson.
“I think overall we just wanted to come out and do our best like we always do,” Fitzloff said. “We always want to keep the energy up and take what we can control. It has been a hard year for us with all the injuries but overall we’ve been rebuilding and doing the best we can to get ready for sections. I think we’ve got great chemistry and we’re always there to pick each other up when we’re down.
“We’ve been adjusting to the new people that have come in and trusting them. I just went up there with no thoughts and trying to hit the ball hard for my team. I work on staying back and just letting it go to see what happens. We’re going to play some hard teams in the sections but we’re going to work to get ready and hopefully we can come out on top.”
The Royals used a trio of extra base hits to tally three runs in the sixth frame before Desi Kneen’s two-run home run capped things. Kneen’s double into the right-center field gap sparked the sixth-inning surge and was followed by Kai Gullickson’s RBI double along with Nyla Mhiripin two-run blast over the right-center field fence.
“We’re a team that have gone through a lot of things in the past,” Banse said “We’re starting to get more comfortable with the newer girls and it helps to play games every couple of days. I felt our defense could have played better but it is what it is. You can’t change the past so you just have to hit better. Hitting comes and goes so your defense has to back you up. We just didn’t string our hits together when we got people on base.
“We’re feeling confident going into the sections because our lineup has been the same the last couple of games.”
West begins Section 2AAA tournament action Thursday at Caswell Park.