Game 1 - Pioneers 18... Bay College 12
The MCC Pioneer softball team had the bats going from all angles on Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the Region XIII Softball Tournament. Every Pioneer that entered the batters box got a hit as the team piled up 17 hits in the game to move to the undefeated semifinal game with an 18-12 win over Bay College.
MCC scored in every inning except for the 1st including an 8-run 5th inning that sealed the deal for the win. 3 different Pioneers had 3 hits in the game. 3B Megan Toplovich (Great Falls, MT) led the way with a 3-5 effort (HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, SB) and fellow sophomore Abby Johnson (Hamilton, MT) was 3-4 (2 2B, 3 R). LF Liz Ybarra (Belgrade, MT) turned in a 3-5 performance (RBI, 3 R, 2 SB) and leadoff hitter HaiLeigh Davis was 2-4 (BB, RBI, 2 R). SS Sierra John (Idaho Falls, ID) got the offense started in the 2nd inning with a 3-run home run and finished 1-2 (HR, BB, 2 HBP, 3 RBI, 3 R) from the 9-spot in the lineup.
Megan Johnson (2 RBI, R), Skyler Higgs (2 BB, RBI, R, SB), Mars Weaver, Reed Johnson, and Lili Nihi (2 RBI, BB, R) all had a base hit.
The Pioneer pitching staff had some struggles but go thru it with the victory. Madi Henry (Spanish Fork, UT) got the start and went 3.1 innings (5 R, 8 H, 2 SO) before giving way to Alex Carr (Idaho Falls, ID) who was roughed up in 1.1 innings (6 R, 5 H, BB, SO). Hazel Eaton (Belgrade, MT) finished the last 2.1 innings (R, 5 H, BB, 2 SO).
Game 2 - Pioneers 14... Dawson 2
For the 1st time in 7 games, the MCC Pioneers found the secret sauce to defeat the Dawson CC Bucs 14-2 to move to the championship game at 12:00 PM on Monday. MCC will only need one win to host the North Plains District series and would have to lose twice to not advance.
Just like last weekend at the West Sub-Region tournament, the Pioneers pushed thru 8 runs in the 1st inning to dash out to 8-0 lead. This time the Pioneer pitching held tough and the bats kept attacking in a 14-2 victory to sneak one win away from the Region XIII Championship for the 2nd year in a row.
HaiLeigh Davis and Megan Johnson started the game off with back to back walks. Liz Ybarra reached base on an error that scored Davis and moved Johnson to 3rd. Skyler Higgs then blasted a 3-run homer to left field and the Pioneers were off an running. Megan Toplovich then reached 2nd base after an error on a line drive. Abby Johnson hit a 1-out single and then stole 2nd. Lili Nihi came up big with a 2 RBI single to center to make it 6-0. Sierra John was hit by a pitch. After a ground out that moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd, Megan Johnson popped a 2 RBI single to cap off the inning.
Dawson pushed their only runs thru in the bottom of the 2nd but MCC answered right away in the 3rd after Nihi walked and John was hit by a pitch. HaiLeigh Davis then singled to load the bases and Megan Johnson hit a sacrifice fly RBI to make the score 9-2. Neither team could score again until the top of the 7th.
In the 7th inning Davis drew a walk and Megan Johnson singled. Skyler Higgs then walked to load the bases with one out. Megan Toplovich then hit a grand slam home run to ice the game and the Pioneers were celebrating. The last run came after Mars Weaver was hit by a pitch and Abby Johnson doubled. Lili Nihi walked to load the bases and Weaver scored on a passed ball.
Megan Johnson led the way for the Pioneers going 2-2 (3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R) and Skyler Higgs was 2-4 (HR, BB, 3 RBI, 2 R). Abby Johnson was the other Pioneer with multiple hits going 2-5 (R). MCC also drew 7 walks and 4 hit by pitch for 11 free runners.
Hazel Eaton went the distance with a stellar 7-inning effort. Eaton gave up only 2 runs on 6 hits, with 3 strikeouts and a walk.