MANKATO — St. Clair/Loyola continued its growth under first-year coach Ashley Sander on Thursday, holding off Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 6-4 in a nonconference softball game at Loyola Field.
Both teams moved the ball consistently in banging out 12 hits apiece and combining to leave 22 runners on base.
However, senior right-hander Lydia Klaseus’ ability to escape trouble time after time proved the difference. Klaseus struck out eight and walked four in navigating out of sticky situations in every inning except a 1-2-3 fourth inning.
“I was getting a little stressed out so I remembered to focus on my catcher and defense behind me,” Klaseus said. “We have had a strong season with a lot of wins. We’ve got new coaching and we have really communicated as a team.
“I really worked hard at gaining speed on my pitches and at hitting my locations. I’ve really improved my change-up and that has really helped. This game meant a lot to me since it was my last game up here.”
The Spartans (9-6) scored three times in the bottom of the first when a walk to shortstop Adeline Lotton and catcher Madison Winkler’s single up the middle set up junior DH Maria Miller’s two-run double to deep right field. After Addison Nicolai singled, Klaseus’ drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.
The Knights (8-10) stranded five over the next two frames before Nell Weiss’ RBI single made it 3-1 in the top of the fifth. However, Klaseus got a fly out to center fielder Natalie Kasprowicz to end things with the bases loaded.
Josie Helget, Taylor Mathiowetz, Grace Hoffmann and Weiss collected two hits apiece for St. Mary’s.
“Our pitcher really pulled through and we played solid defense when they had runners on base,” Miller said. “Everybody has really been working hard the last few days so it only makes sense they were able to pull through. Everybody has put in a lot of hard work this season and everyone has been hitting and building each other up.
“I never imagined getting this may wins after where we were last year, but we’ve had plenty of improvement and there’s more of that to come, too. ”
Winkler’s infield single and Miller’s double down the left-field line ignited a three-run Spartans’ surge in the bottom of the fifth. Aubree Mathiowetz’s two-run double just inside the third base bag made it 5-1 before No. 9 hitter Payton Blount capped things with a RBI single.
Blount, an eighth-grade third baseman, collected three hits for the winners, who also received two hits each from Winkler, Miller and Nicolai.
“Lydia was feeling a little tight before the game so we started getting her loose between innings,” Sander said. “It seems like our players lock in and get really serious with runners on base so we can get those outs. We work really hard on situational plays and we had a bunch of them today. We’ve kept it simple with our hitting all year and have really been putting the ball in play.”
The Spartans face Cleveland at 5 p.m. Friday in the Valley Conference Showcase at Caswell Park.