Game 1 - Pioneers 11... Dawson 14
The MCC Pioneers built a 10-1 lead in the 3rd inning and then saw things fall apart in the final 3 innings as Dawson CC rallied for a 14-11 win to advance to the championship game of the West Sub-Region XIII Tournament Wednesday morning in Glendive.
The Pioneers started out hot scoring 8 runs in the top of the 1st. C HaiLeigh Davis (Shepherd, MT) started the game with a double. DP Megan Johnson (Preston, ID) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Davis to 3rd. LF Liz Ybarra (Belgrade, MT) and CF Skyler Higgs (Livingston, MT) both walked to load the bases. 3B Megan Toplovich (Great Falls, MT) then hit a hard infield ground ball that scored Davis and kept the bases loaded. RF Mars Weaver (Rexburg, ID) then knocked a 2 RBI single to center to make the score 3-0. 2B Abby Johnson (Hamilton, MT) walked to load the bases again. 1B Lilinoe Nihi (Moanalua, HI) singled to right to drive in Toplovich and keep the bases full. In a stange scenario of errors by Dawson and base running error by MCC, the Pioneers scored when pinch runner Alexa Lewis (Bozeman, MT) stole 2nd and Weaver scored on the throw to 2nd. SS Sierra John (Idaho Falls, ID) then hit a hard ground ball and reached on an error by the DCC shortstop and Lewis scored to make it 6-0 MCC. Davis then walked and Megan Johnson smacked a long single off the top of the fence that scored John. Liz Ybarra followed that with a single and the Pioneers led 8-0 after the top of the 1st.
Dawson notched a run in the bottom of the 1st to make the score 8-1. In the top of the 3rd, Liz Ybarra singled and Megan Toplovich blasted a home run to center to make the score 10-1. DCC followed that up in the bottom of the 3rd with back to back home runs to make the score 10-3.
Everything went south in the bottom of the 4th as DCC scored 8 runs (6 that came with 2 outs) to give Dawson an 11-10 lead.
The Pioneers tied the game at 11-11 in the top of the 5th when Ybarra walked, Higgs singled, and Toplovich drove in Ybarra with 2 outs.
Dawson then took the lead for good in the bottom of the 5th on a 3-run home run by Tyra Coats (2nd of the game) to give Dawson the final lead of 14-11.
Madi Henry (Spanish Fork, UT) started the game for MCC and pitched 3.1 innings (4 R, 6 H, 2 BB). She was replaced by Alex Carr (Idaho Falls, ID) who finished the final 2.2 innings (10 R, 13 H, SO).
Game 2 - Pioneers 9... Lake Region State 1 (5 Innings)
Following a disappointing loss to Dawson on Wednesday morning, the Pioneers secured a spot in the Region XIII Playoffs with a 9-1 win over Lake Region State College on Wednesday afternoon.
The MCC Pioneers found enough competitive edge to advance to the championship game after building a 10-1 lead against Dawson and then losing the game late. MCC seized control in the 1st inning with 2 runs and followed that up with 2 more in the 2nd pull off the huge victory.
The 1st inning started with a HaiLeigh Davis single and then Megan Johnson bunted and reached on a LRSC error and Davis then scored for a 1-0 lead. Johnson reached 3rd on that error and scored when Liz Ybarra grounded out to the shortstop for a 2-0 Pioneer lead. That deficit would be enough as the Pioneers would pluck away over the next 4 innings to pull out the win.
The Pioneers tacked on 2 more in the bottom of the 2nd inning after Lili Nihi walked and Sierra John was hit by a pitch. Megan Johnson singled to to center that scored John. Liz Ybarra followed that up with a single of her own to drive in Davis for a 4-0 Pioneer lead. Lake Region scored their only run of the game in the 4th to cut the lead to 4-1.
MCC put the game on ice in the bottom of the 4th after Nihi, John, and Davis hit a trio of singles to load the bases. Megan Johnson served up a sacrifice fly RBI to score Nihi for a 5-1 lead. Sierra John then scored on a Ybarra single to make it 6-1. Skyler Higgs followed that up with a single to load the bases and Megan Toplovich walked for a 7-1 lead.
Playing late in the day with a championship game in the forefront, MCC needed to end the game early to give themselves one more chance at Dawson. The Pioneers got what they were looking for closing things out in the bottom of the 5th. Nihi and John were both hit by pitches and the Davis singled to load the bases. Liz Ybarra ended the game with a 2 RBI single as the Pioneers advanced to the Region XIII playoffs starting Sunday in Glendive.
Liz Ybarra finished the game 3-4 (5 RBI) and HaiLeigh Davis was 4-4 (3 R) to highlight the Pioneer game at the plate.
Hazel Eaton pitched a 5 inning complete game (R, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 SO) to push the Pioneers to the Region XIII Championships.
The Pioneers will play Bay College at 10:00 AM Sunday and Dawson will face Dakota County Tech at 12:00. The winner of the Region XIII Championship will advance to the North Plains District title series later in the week.
Game 3 - Pioneers 3... Dawson 7
3 games in a day proved to be too much as Dawson earned the right to host the Region XIII playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Pioneers late Wednesday night in Glendive.
Dawson scored 2 runs in the first inning but the Pioneers answered with 2 of their own in the top of the 2nd. Lili Nihi and HaiLeigh Davis both walked for runners on 1st and 2nd. Megan Johnson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ybarra and Higgs hit back to back singles to tie the game at 2-2.
Dawson added enough in the bottom of the 2nd to secure the win as they added 3 runs for a 5-2 lead. The only other offense that MCC could come up with was a solo blast by Abby Johnson that cut the Dawson lead to 5-3. MCC would not score again.
Madi Henry got the ball in the circle and gave up (5 R, 8 H) over 2.0 innings. Hazel Eaton came in to complete the game going 4.0 innings (9 H, 2 R, BB, SO).