Panthers play in first state softball tournament

The South Ridge Panthers were rolling on a hot streak when they entered the girls state softball tournament last week at Caswell Park in North Mankato, with Malania Madill throwing 33 scoreless innings throughout the section tournament. The Panthers were hoping for the success to continue into the state softball tournament.

The Panthers looked like they might have had that same good luck entering the state tournament, as they opened up the game against New York Mills by jumping out to a 1-0 lead when Alana Young scored the game's first run, scoring in the top of the first inning after she singled, stole second and came in to score on a RBI single off the bat of Celia Olesiak.

The early run was the only highlight of the game for the Panthers as New York Mills tied the contest in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly that brought in Kenna Salo with the game-tying run.

The Eagles added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning, coming off two hits and aided by two wild pitches which gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead. The game remained 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning when New York Mills added three more runs to ensure the victory for the two-time defending state champions in Class A.

"We started off good," head coach Roger Plachta said. "The girls were excited and ready to go but we played a really good team. We knew that we had to be perfect and not make any mistakes, but unfortunately we had our fair share of miscues."

Trista Hering threw the 40th no-hitter in MSHSL State Softball Tournament history for the fourth perfect game in MSHSL State Softball Tournament history as the Buccaneers shut out the Panthers 11-0 and moved into the consolation finals.

Lindsay Condon was two-for-three against the Panthers with two runs and two RBIs along with Allison Rients, who went one-for-two with two RBIs in the victory.

"It was a good learning experience," Plachta said. "This is something we can use as a foundation for our future."