Vikings start, finish strong in close opener
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If the Vincent Massey Vikings are a provincial championship favourite, some of their stiffest competition is apparently quite close to home.
The Neelin Spartans pushed last year’s softball silver medallist to the brink before the Vikings broke it open for a 12-5 victory in their Brandon High School Softball League season opener at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex on Tuesday.
Neelin tied it 5-5 in the top of the sixth inning before Massey rattled off seven runs to invoke the run rule.
Vincent Massey catcher Rachel Lyver hit a two-run home run as the Vikings beat the Neelin Spartans 12-5 in the Brandon High School Softball League season opener on Tuesday. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
Vikings catcher and third baseman Rachel Lyver blasted a two-run moon shot in the sixth, but felt the key hit was a much, much shorter one earlier in the frame.
Kendra Grift laid down a bunt to move Kasia Baranyk over and help generate offence after four stagnant innings.
“It was a very good play. I felt like we needed a bit of small ball to get us back into the game,” Lyver said.
“I feel like all of us were kind of swinging for ourselves. After that bunt was laid, we all got back into the game.”
Lyver admitted her team got a tad complacent after opening up a 4-0 lead thanks to smart base running by she and Baranyk, and a two-run RBI by Macey McIvor.
After the hot start, Neelin pitchers Olivia Koscielny and Layla Desjardin kept the ball in the infield for much of the next four innings.
“It felt like we were relaxed a little too much in the middle. We got a little scared of the other pitcher, so I felt like we needed to be a little bit more up,” Lyver said.
“(Desjardin) was just pitching hard and good, not many misses from her.”
Quinn Twordik connects with a pitch for the Vikings. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
Neelin’s offence got going in the second inning as Lila Oldcorn got on base and scored, but Massey got out of a bases-loaded jam.
Oldcorn blasted a ground-rule double to drive in a run in the third, before Ella Kulchyski added an RBI to cut the lead to 4-3 in the third.
Baranyk scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to restore the two-run edge.
Zara Pople responded in the fifth with a huge opposite-field triple. She made a high-IQ play, watching an errant throw sail wide of its target and taking off for home immediately.
Katie Bell followed that up with another deep ball in the sixth, scoring Emily Beckwith to tie the game.
Desjardin gave way to Kulchyski in the circle for the sixth when the Vikings turned the entire batting order over and ended the game an inning early, thanks to Lyver’s bomb.
“It was coming right down the middle, it was ‘Tee off.’ It felt so good,” Lyver said. “It felt perfect, I can’t lie.”
Despite the run-rule loss, Desjardin feels good about what her team can do this year after five close innings.
Neelin’s Layla Desjardin pitched three innings, allowing just one run. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“I definitely think we can hang around, it just comes with reps,” Desjardin said
“Our younger girls definitely were hot off the sticks. That helped us a lot. Defensively, we did all right for our first game, for not playing together.
“As the season goes, I’m really excited to see how we progress.”
The Spartans play the Crocus Plainsmen in an exhibition game on Thursday. The Vikings return to action against the Plainsmen on May 5.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com