The STMA 12U Gold softball squad went 6-0 to finish first place in the Gold bracket of the Buffalo Bison Showdown Fastpitch tournament recently.
Strong pitching, clutch hits and solid defense lead to the success, a total team effort.
Heading into the championship game the Knights gave up only 4 runs over a span of 5 games.
Pictured from left to right:
Bottom row: Tori Kangas, Morgan Casey, Kat Saxe, Elle Potts, Maddie Penning
Top row: Carey Jahnke, Abby Kemmetmueller, Ryan Erickson, Maddie Jahnke, Natalie Engman, Jason Potts, Abby Erickson, Erin Gilbert
In the championship game vs/ Minnetonka, however, the girls needed a tremendous comeback to claim the title.
STMA trailed 6-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but scored three runs, cutting the lead in half. Minnetonka fired back and stretched the lead to 7-3 with runs in the top of the 5th and 6th innings.
The Knights shut them down in the top of the seventh inning, and still four runs down, needed a huge rally in the last at-bats of the game. Heads up base-running and solid hits pushed the contest into extra innings with the Knights scoring the four runs needed to tie the game in their last at bat.
Minnetonka scored 1 run in the top of the eighth inning, but The Knights tied the contest with two passed balls scoring a runner from second base. Then, with two outs and a runner on first, the Knights struck gold with a deep shot to the gap, scoring the runner from first base.