The Panther softball team closed out its regular season on the highest of notes last Thursday with a 7-3, 15-13 Camden Conference sweep over Renville County West.
Game 1 was all TMB.
The Panthers notched a run in the first, then added two more in the third when Gretchen Lanoue hit her first of two triples to score Alli Dolan; Lanoue came across on a wild pitch.
In the fourth, Rosa Vang and Melaina Ankrum both scored, and Lanoue’s second triple in the seventh once again pushed Dolan across (who also tripled).
Meanwhile, Lanoue was a thorn in the Jaguars’ side from the circle as well. She struck out seven while pitching around trouble for the first half of the game, not allowing a run until the fifth.
RCW’s offense came to life in the second game of the doubleheader, but TMB more than matched what the Jaguars did.
After RCW went up 1-0 in the top of the first, the Panthers scored two of their own in the bottom of the inning on a tworun home run by Dolan, who went 3-for-4 with another three-bagger.
RBI by Rosa Vang and Aliyah Loftness put the Panthers up 4-1 through three innings before the fun really began.
The Jaguars made it 4-3 in the fourth, but TMB countered with a two-run bottom of the fourth with the benefit of a hit. In the fifth, RCW pushed five runs across to build an 8-5 lead. However, TMB wasn’t done, not by a long shot.
The Panthers rallied with four runs in the fifth on RBI doubles by Bella Martinez and Braelynn Kirk to take a 9-8 lead. But back came RCW, as the Jaguars regained the lead, 10-9, in the sixth.
And here come the Panthers once again. Dolan led off the bottom of the sixth with her triple and scored, and singles by Martinez and Freeburg scored Lanoue. Both Martinez and Freeburg would score. Alexis Brey also scored after reaching base for the second time.
RCW didn’t quit and scored three in the top of the seventh, but their left two batters runs stranded and Lanoue had just enough to close things out.
Kirk, Dolan, Martinez and Freeburg all had multiple-hit games for TMB.
Game 1 TMB 012 200 2 — 7 6 4 RCW 000 010 2 — 3 8 3 Lanoue (W) and Freeburg. 3B: Lanoue, Dolan.
Game 2 RCW 100 252 3 — 13 14 4 TMB 211 245 x — 15 15 4 Lanoue (W) and Freeburg. 2B: Kirk, Martinez. 3B: Dolan. HR: Dolan.
