Fastpitch Jaguars earn 8th win, ready for senior night (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team has been on a steady upwards climb of improvement all year. After suffering a five-game skid in the past five days, they recovered from a 6-2 loss in game one today against Holdingford to earn a 14-3 six-inning win. They now hold an 8-10 overall record going into tomorrow's regular season finale against Upsala at 4:30 p.m. That home game will also feature Senior Night, as they will honor seniors Madison Hofmann (manager), Anna Jaeger, Faith Radermacher and Brooklyn Fischer.

Upsala, a state entrant last year who took fourth place in the Class 1A tournament, is 11-5 overall. They went 6-2 in the Prairie Conference to earn a co-championship with Swanville, who is 15-3. Upsala is all but a lock for the No. 3 seed in Sub-Section 6A-North, while Swanville appears poised to earn the No. 2 seed. Browerville (14-4) is in position to be that sub-section's No. 1 seed with a Class 1A QRF ranking of No. 8. The Tigers went 5-3 to take third in the Prairie Conference with losses to Swanville, Upsala and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.

In game one today, the Jaguars could not muster the needed hits to catch up to the Huskers, who led 5-1 through three innings. When the Jaguars connected with pitches, they often resulted in quick pop fly grabs. For the game, the Jaguars were out-hit by a 12 to 9 margin, with Holdingford overcoming two errors. B-B-E had no errors, and they were led by two hits each by Anna Jaeger, Kenna Lieser and Kacey Fischer. Earning RBI hits were Jaeger and Mya Worms. Worms pitched a complete game with one walk and three strikeouts.

In game two, the Jaguars blasted the Huskers with a 14-hit attack. Earning doubles were Worms, Brooklyn Fischer and Kacey Fischer. Faith Radermacher was 3-for-3 with one RBI and three runs scored. Worms was 3-for-5 with two RBI. A 2-1 lead after four innings expaned to a 4-1 lead after five. The Jaguars then battered Holdingford with 10 runs in the top of the sixth. Worms pitched all six innings and scattered 7 hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

B-B-E's eight wins marks the most wins since the 2009 season. The Jaguars finished 7-16 in 2018 after a 2-2 showing in the Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs. In 2009, the Jaguars were 10-8 going into the Sub-Section 5A-West playoffs and finished 11-9 overall.

Here's a video from towards the end of the top of the sixth inning in game two:


Holdingford stands at 6-7 in the Central Minnesota Conference in fourth place. They play Royalton tomorrow to close out the regular season. The Jaguars finish the loop with a 6-8 record, which is their best CMC record since 2009.

In the latest Sub-Section 3A-North standings, the Jaguars have remained at the No. 2 spot, while Renville County West (7-9) has jumped above Benson (5-13) to the No. 3 spot. The Braves are at No. 4, while Yellow Medicine East (6-12) is at No. 5. The playoffs open next Tuesday at home for the Jaguars, although we won't know what seed they will get until Friday this week. I don't see them falling below No. 4 in the standings, which means they will have a home playoff game for the first time since 2012!!

More to come. It's going to rain soon, and I need to get more garden planted! Tonight is also the seniors awards banquet.

Area fastpitch scores on May 15:
Osakis 9, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 7
LP-GE 16, Osakis 1