The Dragons of Litchfield kept climbing after their recent win over the MACA Tigers. MACA was unable to overcome the fine junior pitcher for Litch, Taylor Draeger. St. James could not overcome Draeger either. Litch and St. James met in continued post-season action Tuesday in Marshall.
The venue was Schwan's Regional Amateur Sports Complex. Draeger worked from the pitching circle as her Dragons took another step forward. It was a hard-fought game, score of 2-1. Draeger fanned seven batters in this Section 3AA action. She scattered six hits.
MACA fans will remember Draeger as the winning pitcher twice vs. our Tigers in 2021 action. She'll be back for her senior year.
The Litch success vs. St. James left the Dragons one win shy of a coveted state tournament berth. One more win! That's what the green-themed Dragons will seek later today (Thursday). Game-time is 5 p.m. in Marshall. Now the opponent is Pipestone. Teams from southern Minnesota have a reputation for premier fast-pitch softball. Can Draeger and her mates overcome this obstacle? Surely a large number of fans will be present.
The Dragons carry an 18-6 W/L mark. One win gets the Dragons to state, whereas Pipestone would have to win twice in the double-elimination format.
A key batter for Litch in the win over St. James was Emma DeWolf. DeWolf rapped a single in the eighth frame to get the winning run in.
We wouldn't have seen extra innings if the Litch defense hadn't been up to the test in the bottom of the seventh! Litch flirted with defeat as St. James had runners at second and third. This was with nobody out! Draeger bore down to strike out the next batter. Liv Holmgren then caught a blooper to left. The St. James runner at third misjudged and thought the ball would drop in. She headed home. The bang-bang play saw Holmgren, a sophomore, throw to third to complete the most timely twin-killing. Inning over! Litch fans breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The Dragons had new life and would get the winning run in the eighth. Victory by the score of 2-1. Now the goal is one more win to reach state!
DeWolf was a big offensive standout with three hits and two RBIs. Her first RBI was in the first inning when her safety drove in Grace Braaten. Her most dramatic RBI hit which was in the eighth was on a hit to left field. Sydney McCann was the baserunner at first, having walked, and she was able to race all the way around to score.
The last Litchfield appearance in state was in 1995.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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