NORTH MANKATO — With the championship out of reach, the Knights of Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial had to find a way to regroup after losing 3-1 in the opening round of the Class AA state softball tournament Wednesday at Caswell Park.
LCWM had entered the tournament with just two losses and seeded third in the AA field. Their aspirations for a state title were legitimate but they were taken away in the quarterfinals when Hawley scored three times in the fifth inning and held on for the first-round victory.
“You know, with this group of players, I wasn’t that concerned with how they would bounce back,” LCWM head coach Tony Parsons said. “They were nervous in that first game but they’ve handled adversity well.”
The Knights proved their coach correct in the consolation semifinals, rallying for six runs in the fifth inning and delivering a 6-3 triumph over St. Agnes. There were no obvious nerves in the second-round win.
Kiley Hall delivered the big blast for the Knights against St. Agnes. Shortly after her team tied the game 1-1 on a squeeze bunt by Piper Hellekson, LCWM loaded the bases and Hall lofted an opposite-field triple down the right-field line for a 4-1 Knights’ lead. LCWM scored two more runs in the inning and held on for the 6-3 victory.
“We’ve been tested this season,” Hall said. “We’ve had to come from behind in games and we just tell ourselves to shake it off and play softball the way we know how.”
Hellekson, who got the win in relief in Game 2, agreed with Hall: “We’ve been down, a lot of the fans call us the Comeback Kids because we’ve had to come from behind to win games. I knew we could come back strong in the second game.”
Nev Parsons and Taylin Gilman led the LCWM attack in the win with two hits apiece. Grace Thorson went 3 for 3 with a double for the Knights in the first-round loss, while Nettie Parsons allowed two earned runs with 11 strikeouts in the circle for the Knights.
LCWM plays for the consolation championship against Spectrum today at 11 a.m. at Caswell Park.