Midgets maul Watford City in two-game sweep
Apr. 10—DICKINSON — The Dickinson High School Midgets improved their record to 5-0 on the young 2024 prep softball season with a 25-0 win over Watford City in the opener and a 17-4 victory in the run-rule nightcap as well, with Madison Wegleitner taking the "W" in the first game of the twin-bill and freshman sensation Reagan McMahan earning the victory in the come-from-behind second game.
"It was fun getting kids in different positions and for the others to get some playing time," DHS head softball coach Amanda Mickey said. "Reagan did a great job coming in and closing out the second game."
Strangely enough, DHS had to bounce back from a 4-2 deficit in the bottom half of the second inning in the late contest, as Watford City stacked together a solid inning of baseball in the second frame. But come back they did, as the Midgets rolled to an 11-4 lead and never looked back.
After taking a 2-0 advantage at the end of one on a Wegleitner single that plated Peterson and eighth-grade hurler Gabriella Sobolik, the Midgets briefly took it on the chin in the top of the next inning. But that advantage was briefly enjoyed by WCHS, as Dickinson tied-up the game with left-fielder Beth Dobitz scoring on a passed-ball and an RBI single by sophomore centerfielder Emily Sayler that plated junior catcher Mackenna Medina. Sophomore Myah Merry also scored on a passed-ball shortly thereafter and then senior right-field Ava Jahner drilled a double to left that sent Sayler across the plate, which preceded a 2-run homer from Kyndall Peterson over the center-field wall that brought Jahner home. To cap off the inning, Wegleitner scored on an error and Medina singled home Priscilla Alvarez before Merry brought home McMahan on a groundout for an 11-4 lead.
Peterson cranked another homer to over the left-field wall in the third frame — her third of the afternoon — and then it was more of the same in the bottom of the fourth as Jahner swatted a line-drive single to left that scored Merry and then Peterson went back to work and singled home Jahner before Morgan Koffler drilled a 3-run double to the left-field wall that scored junior third-baseman Braelynn Farnsworth, Peterson and Wegleitner.
McMahan came on in relief after Sobolik picked up a cramp in the second inning and the two combined for 9 strikeouts with McMahan fanning 7 of those for the win, while Peterson went 4-for-4 with 4 runs and 4 RBI and Jahner accounted for 2 more RBI and a pair of runs on 2-for-3 batting.
The 25-0 shutout was paced by a pair of runs in the opening inning and 14 more in the bottom of the second. The Midgets added 7 more in the third and 2 in the final frame to take the run-rule, marathon win. Wegleitner and Peterson combined for 9 Ks, with Wegleitner accounting for 5 of those, while only giving up a pair of walks.
Sayler had a solid day on 3-for-4 hitting with a grand-slam, while crossing the plate 4 times and driving in 4 runs. Peterson helped her own cause with a grand-slam and 4 total RBI with 4 runs of her own while Medina also drove in 4 on a 2-for-2 day at the plate. Wegleitner also was on fire not only from the circle but with the stick, going 3-for-4 with a trio of runs and 3 RBIs and Alvarez went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and 1 RBI.
"I was pretty excited for the younger ones to get in today and they did well to score 25 in the first game and that was all-them," Mickey said. "Really excited for Emily Sayler for getting her first grand-slam — that was pretty fun to see — and seeing Kyndall (Peterson) getting on-time because she was struggling in the first three games getting her timing down."
For more information about softball in North Dakota, please visit
https://ndhsaanow.com/tournaments/softball
, and to find out about Dickinson High School athletics, just keep reading The Dickinson Press and/or visit their website at
https://www.dickinson.k12.nd.us/schools/dhs/athletics/index
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