Spring in Boom: Blossom bats sprout to life in comeback win over Kenyon-Wanamingo
Published 7:28 pm Thursday, April 13, 2023
Blooming Prairie’s Rachel Winzenburg connects on a pitch in BP Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Anna Haberman beats the throw at third base against Kenyon-Wanamingo in BP Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Haven Carlson goes through her wind-up for the Awesome Blossoms. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyheraldc.com
Macy Lembke makes the throw from the shortstop position last spring. Herald File photo
Blooming Prairie’s Layla Lembke eyes a pitch. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie head softball coach Cam Rutledge speaks to his team after the game. BP high school is currently under construction, but the softball field has just enough room to still be used this spring. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie first baseman Lily Schammel attempts to tag a Kenyon-Wanamingo runner at first base in Blooming Prairie Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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BLOOMING PRAIRIE – Things could not have started much worse for the Awesome Blossom softball team, but Blooming Prairie never panicked as it went to work at the plate and put up as season’s best offensive output in a 15-4 five inning win over Kenyon-Wanamingo Thursday.
The Knights scored four runs in the top of the first after Navaeh Greseth belted a two-run homer to left field, but that was the last run K-W would score. After allowing three hits and four runs in the first inning, BP pitcher Haven Carlson didn’t allow a hit over the next four innings and she pitched perfect innings in the second, third and fourth.
“I believe in Haven and I knew she would do better than that, especially when we started hitting,” said BP third baseman Shawntee Snyder.
Snyder tripled in a run in the first inning and she gave BP a 5-4 lead when she singled in two more runs in the second. Snyder finished three-for-four with five RBIs, but she resisted trying to get all four runs back with one swing, despite the fact that a strong wind was blowing out to center field.
“I knew that all I had to do was hit RBIs and make contact,” Sndyer said. “We needed runs to win the game, but I wasn’t trying to hit it over the fence today.”
Rachel Winzenburg added three RBIs for the Blossoms, who have been finding their swing as of late. She never had a doubt of her team’s capabilities, even when K-W took a four-run lead. BP had 16 hits on Thursday and eight Blossoms had at least one hit.
“I was really thinking that we are capable of getting our bats going,” Winzenburg said. “We just had to string our hits together and get back in it. We spend hours in the cage working on our swing in practice and it’s helped.”
After being blanked in its season opener, the Awesome Blossoms (3-1 overall) have now scored 36 runs over their past three contests. BP’s offense has been jump started by the play of their leadoff hitter and shortstop Macy Lembke, who went four-for-four with two RBIs and four runs Thursday. Lembke, a slap hitter who is capable of knocking the ball to the outfield, is also a threat to steal every time she reaches base.
“We have a very solid lineup and a lot of these girls have been starting for years now. This is the kind of hitting team that we’re capable of being,” BP head coach Cam Rutledge said. “Macy is such a good player and it makes my job as a coach so easy, because most of the time she’s on base and most of the time she gets to second base. She’s such a smart girl and she knows the game so well.”
K-W 400 00 – 4 3 2
BP 153 6X – 15 16 1
BP pitching: Haven Carlson (W) 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 ER, 4 K
BP hitting: Macy Lembke, 4-for-4, 2 RBIs, 4 R, 2 SB; Rachel Winzenburg, 1-for-4, 3 RBIs, R, SB; Shawntee Snyder, 3-for-4, triple, 5 RBIs, 2 R; Lily Schammel, 1-for-3, 2 SB, BB; Layla Lembke, 2-for-4, triple, RBI, R; Haven Carlson, 2-for-3, RBI; Lexi Steckelberg, 0-for-2, 2 R, BB; Anna Haberman, 3-for-3, RBI, 2 R; Ella Smith, 2-for-3, RBI, 2 R, SB
