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Clutch 7th Inning Home Run Propels Pioneers to Region XIII Championship Game

Clutch 7th Inning Home Run Propels Pioneers to Region XIII Championship Game
Posted: May 04, 2024

Region 13 Semifinal

Pioneers 7... Dawson 6

For the 2nd day in a row, it took a clutch 7th inning home run to push the Pioneers to victory at the Region 13 softball tournament. Brooke Richardson (1B - Helena, MT) came up roses on this day as she smashed a solo home run with 2 outs in the top of the 7th inning to give the Pioneers a 7-6 lead that they would hold on to and move to the championship game Saturday at 12:00 PM MST in Glendive. 

The Pioneers got off to a hot start in the 1st inning as Cassidy Bagnell (CF - Frenchtown, MT) singled with one out and Taylor Feller (C - Laurel, MT) drew a walk. Dalilah Hernandez (2B - Laurel, MT) came to the plate with 2 outs and cracked a 3-run home run to left center field and MCC took a 3-0 lead. 

In the top of the 3rd inning, Feller connected for a solo home run to give MCC a 4-0 lead. Dawson got a run back in the 4th inning on a solo home run but the Pioneers quickly answered with 2 runs in the 4th inning to build a 6-1 lead. Shannon Nelson (SS - Livingston, MT) got on base with an infield single and Bagnell followed that with a single to left field. The ball got past the Dawson leftfielder and went all the way to the fence scoring Nelson and putting Bagnell on 3rd base. Feller drove Bagnell in with a single of her own. Hot hitting Hernandez (3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI) doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd but MCC could not muster up any more runs in the inning. 

Dawson got back in the game quickly in the bottom of the 5th inning on the strength of 2 home runs and scored 4 to cut the lead to 6-5. They tied the game in the bottom of the 6th inning on a Pioneer throwing error. That set the stage for Richardson's game winning home run. In the bottom of the 7th, Dawson put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs but the final batter lined out to left field. 

Peyton Whitehead pitched her 2nd consecutive complete game (7 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO) to pick up another win. 

The Pioneers will play the winner of Saturday's Dawson/Dakota County Tech game at 12:00 PM. Dawson and Dakota County will play at 10:00 AM. The winner of the Region 13 tournament will host the North Plains District Championship series next weekend. 

Inside the Box Score

  • The Pioneers had 9 hits and Dawson had 8.
  • Pioneer batters struck out 11 times and Dawson batters struck out only 3 times. 
  • MCC had 2 errors and DCC had 1.
  • There was only one stolen base in the game and it was from Bagnell.
  • Hernandez had 3 hits while Feller and Bagnell each had 2.
  • Pioneer batters drew only one walk. Buccaneer batters drew 4 free passes.