Softball roundup: Brandon-Evansville advances in 6A playoffs

VERNDALE - The Brandon-Evansville softball team opened up the Section 6A playoffs with a win on the road over the Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale Raiders, 7-4.

The Chargers (11-5, 9-5 Section 6A) are the No. 5 seed in the 6A East subsection and defeated the Raiders (13-8, 5-5 Section 6A), the No. 4 seed in the subsection.

B-E had 11 hits against B-H-V, led by Kaytlyn Pattrin, Sydney Schaefer, Kendra Klimek and Claire Boesl, with two hits apiece.

B-E jumped on B-H-V early and had a 5-0 lead after the third inning.

‘We came out ready to play right away and got out to an early lead in the first inning, setting up the momentum we needed throughout the game,” B-E head coach Kasi Sieling said. “Taylin (Kramer) did an excellent job in the circle throwing strikes and keeping their batters from getting anything going. Our defense did a nice job of making the plays behind her to prevent the Raiders from putting a rally together. Offensively, our whole lineup did a good job of hitting the ball hard and being aggressive on the bases.”

Kramer pitched a full game for the Chargers. She allowed two hits, four runs (one earned) and struck out nine batters.

The Chargers had a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh and the Raiders made a bit of a comeback but couldn’t make the full comeback and the Chargers won 7-4.

B-E faces the top seed in the subsection, the Upsala Cardinals (16-3, 8-2 Section 6A) in Browerville, at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

“This was a great team win and we’re excited to be able to still have life in this postseason,” Sieling said.

Brandon-Evansville - 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 - 7 11 2

Upsala - 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 - 4 2 4

Eighth-seeded Parkers Prairie had its season come to an end on Tuesday in the playoff opener, but not without pushing top-seeded Upsala.

The Panthers dropped a 5-4 decision in eight innings against the Cardinals (16-3). Parkers Prairie finished the spring with a 4-13 overall record.

New York Mills (17-4) beat Swanville (6-12) 11-2 on Tuesday in the bottom half of the East subsection bracket, while Browerville-Eagle Valley (13-4 beat Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (5-12) 17-7 to earn the right to face New York Mills on May 26 in Browerville.

In the West subsection, Lake Park-Audubon (10-4) beat Ashby 11-1 to advance to the subsection semifinals. Ashby finished the season with a 3-14 record.

West Central Area kept its season alive in the Section 3AA playoffs on Tuesday.

The fourth-seeded Knights (9-7) beat fifth-seeded Minnewaska (3-12) in a 14-13 game in the opener. WCA then fell to top-seeded Morris Area-Chokio-Alberta (20-1) in a 9-3 final. That dropped the Knights to the elimination bracket where they will play Jackson County Central (10-11) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Marshall Softball Complex.