Forget and advance: Awesome Blossoms shake off blowout loss to beat Falcons for the Section 1A title

Published 10:37 pm Thursday, May 30, 2024

By Rocky Hulne

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The top-seeded Awesome Blossoms started the day with one of their most lopsided losses in program history, but they flipped the script and responded with their biggest win in 11 years.

The Blooming Prairie softball team, which needed to lose twice to be eliminated, earned a state berth when it beat No. 6 Wabasha-Kellogg 4-1 for the Section 1A title after the Falcons had won the first game 21-1 in Todd Park Thursday.

BP senior pitcher Macy Lembke was able to hold W-K to one run in seven innings, after the Falcons (15-11 overall) scored 11 runs off of her in the first game.

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“We talked on the field after the game and we really had to clear our minds, start fresh and forget about that game,” Lembke said. “I mean, nobody really wanted to remember it. We knew that we had to come into the second game strong.”

BP (19-5 overall) took control of the second game on one swing of the bat when Shawntee Snyder blasted a two-run homer to deep center field with no outs in the top of the fifth inning.

“We knew we’d bounce back. That’s just what we do,” Snyder said. “I just knew I had to hit it hard and I had to get the barrel on the ball. I knew it was gone right away.”

BP head coach Cam Rutledge was in a tricky situation between games as he had to remind his team what got them to the section championship game, even after they had taken such a tough loss. He simply hit the reset button and let his players do their thing.

“I told them I don’t care if they lost by 20, or lost by one, a loss is a loss. Thankfully they put themselves in the driver’s seat just in case that happened where they could bounce back and play well. They certainly did that,” Rutledge said. “How about that for a bulldog mentality (by Macy)? We just got our butts kicked and she bounces back and gives up one run. I’m really proud of her.”

BP went hitless in the first four innings of the first game as the Falcons took a 5-0 lead. WK piled on 12 runs in the top of the seventh inning.

This will be BP’s first state tournament appearance since 2013.

“We’ve had strong teams for a couple of years now and now that we’re back in 1A and we get back to state, it’s an awesome feeling and we’re all grateful for it,” Lembke said.

The Class A state softball tournament will be held at Caswell Park in North Mankato next week. Quarterfinals are at 5:30 pm. Wednesday, semifinals will be held at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and the championship game will be held at 4 p.m Saturday.

Game two

BP 0 1 0  0 2 0  1  –  4  6  2

WK 0 0 1  0 0 0  0  –  1  8  1

BP pitching: Macy Lembke (W) 7 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 1 K

BP hitting: Macy Lembke, 0-for-3, BB, SB, R; Rachel Winzenburg, 2-for-4, RBI, R; Shawntee Snyder, 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, R, BB; Layla Lembke, 1-for-4; Lily Schammel, 0-for-4, R; Ella Smith, 0-for-3; Catelyn Bartlett, 0-for-3; Anna Haberman, 2-for-3, RBI; Brianna Deplitch, 0-for-1, BB

Game one

WK 0 0 1  4 1 3  12  –  21  19  1

BP 0 0 0  0 1 0   0   –  1    6    3

BP pitching: Macy Lembke (L) 6 ⅓ IP, 11 H, 8 BB, 11 R, 8 ER, 1 K; Mia Johnson, ⅔ IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 10 R

BP hitting: Macy Lembke, 2-for-4; Rache Winzenburg, 1-for-4; Shawntee Snyder, 0-for-3; Layla Lembke, 1-for-3, double, R; Lily Schammel, 0-for-3; Ella Smith, 0-for-3, RBI; Catelyn Bartlett, 0-for-3; Anna Haberman, 2-for-3; Madelyn Harvey, 0-for-2, BB

 

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