Blossoms’ fast start leads to debut win
Blooming Prairie’s Layla Lembke slides into home plate. Lembke scored two runs in Blooming Prairie’s 12-5 win. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Blooming Prairie softball entered the season with hopes to contend for the Gopher Conference final, and after a swift 12-5 win over JWP in the season debut, the Awesome Blossoms are off to a fast start.
Head coach Cam Rutledge’s team put up five runs in the first inning and never looked back.
“We’re a very experienced team this year, so there’s not a lot of positions our girls haven’t been in. Having Macy Lembke, Shawntee Snyder, Rachel Winzenburg and Lily Schammel at the top of our order with three or more years of varsity experience, it’s really valuable for us,” said Rutledge.
The Awesome Blossoms’ lineup features a wealth of consistency and power, but the team’s most useful quality in its debut was the eyes at the plate.
Blooming Prairie had three hits all game – recorded by Schammel, Layla Lembke, and Anna Haberman – but had eight walks, which led to the majority of the team’s runs along with JWP’s five errors.
After Schammel sparked the team’s first-inning rally with a two-RBI single, the Awesome Blossoms went on to score two runs in each of the second, third, and fourth innings to lead 11-1 heading into the fifth inning.
JWP fought back by scoring three runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth, but Blooming Prairie tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth and blanked the Bulldogs in the seventh frame to end the game at 12-5.
Blooming Prairie pitcher Macy Lembke teamed up with her cousin, Layla, in the team’s starting battery and threw all seven innings, allowing five runs on eight hits while walking five and striking out four.
Schammel led the Awesome Blossoms on offense with one hit, one run, and three RBIs in four plate appearances.
Up next for Blooming Prairie is a home game against Maple River on Thursday, April 11, at 4:30 p.m.
|
Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
Final |
|
JWP |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
BP |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
X |
12 |
Player Stats
vs. JWP
H R RBI
Schammel 1 1 3
Haberman 1 1 2
L. Lembke 1 2 0
M. Lembke 0 2 1
Winzenburg 0 2 0
Snyder 0 1 1
Deplitch 0 1 1
Harvey 0 1 0
Bartlett 0 1 0
IP H R K BB
M. Lembke 7 8 5 4 5