Softball: Menahga salvages a split against Wadena-Deer Creek

MENAHGA – The Menahga fastpitch softball team earned a Park Region Conference split with Wadena-Deer Creek on Monday, May 15.

W-DC won the opener 10-6 before the Braves rebounded for a 10-7 victory in the second game.

In the first game, singles by Janelle Hendrickson and Aili Anderson and a double by Leah Weaver led to three runs in the first inning. After Hendrickson hit a solo home run in the second, Maddie Hendrickson’s RBI single produced a run in the third. Joie Koll scored Menahga’s final run in the fifth.

Janelle Hendrickson (2 for 4, two runs, two RBI) and Anderson (3 for 4) led the Braves’ eight-hit attack. Weaver took the loss, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits and five walks with five strikeouts as Menahga committed seven errors.

Anna Pietila (2 for 3, three RBI), Weaver (1 for 4, two RBI), Dreah Christiansen (2 for 4, two RBI) and Koll (2 for 3, two RBI) led Menahga to the win in the second game. Koll’s RBI single in the second was followed by singles by Pietila, Kelsey Hendrickson and Christiansen during a three-run second. Two errors led to three runs in the fourth before Pietila’s double sparked a three-run fifth. Singles by Christiansen and Koll produced the final run in the sixth.

Koll picked up the win, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits while striking out nine.

PARKERS PRAIRIE – Parkers Prairie swept a conference doubleheader from the Braves by scores of 9-2 and 5-2 on May 12.

Christiansen had an RBI single in the second while Pietila singled and scored on an error in the third in the opener. Christiansen went 2 for 3 as the Braves were held to three hits. Koll allowed four earned runs on 13 hits with seven strikeouts.

In the second game, Anderson and Weaver had singles during a two-run first inning. Anderson went 2 for 3 as Menahga managed only five hits. Weaver gave up three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

MENAHGA – An eight-run first inning sparked the Braves to a 14-1 win in five innings over Hill City on May 11.

Janelle Hendrickson had a single and a double and Anderson had a single as the Braves took advantage of four errors to take an early 8-0 lead. Weaver doubled and scored in the second while a single by Pietila and a double by Christiansen sparked a three-run third. Singles by Janelle Hendrickson and Anderson produced the final runs in the fourth.

Janelle Hendrickson (3 for 3, four runs) and Anderson (2 for 4, three RBI) led Menahga’s eight-hit attack. Koll allowed one hit while striking out four over three scoreless innings while Weaver gave up a run on two hits in relief.