JM Falls To Farmington, Eliminates Owatonna
John Marshall couldn't have asked for more out of its defense and pitcher Emma Bartholomew in the quarterfinal round.
The Rockets had Farmington, the defending section and state champion, on its heels for nearly the entire game. It took a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for No. 2-seeded Farmington to escape against third-seeded JM.
Farmington put together a single, a bunt hit and a sacrifice bunt to get runners to second and third base with one out. That was followed by an intentional walk and a strikeout, then Olivia Hazelbaker hit a single up the middle to end the game.
JM's best scoring chance came in the top of the sixth, when it had two runners on, but couldn't drive one in.
"It was a great softball game between two good teams," JM coach Thang Nguyen said. "I'm disappointed in the loss but happy with how our team battled and fought on every pitch."
JM bounced back nicely in an elimination game, ending Owatonna's season with a dominant 8-1 victory. JM led 2-0 after one inning and never trailed in the game.
The Rockets tacked on three runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth to pull away.
Abby Gee drove in a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth, and finished the game 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs.
Abby Miles took care of the rest in the circle for JM (15-7). She pitched a complete game, allowing a run on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
"Our team was able to bounce back from a tough one-run loss, and took care of business to advance to next week," Nguyen said. "Our girls just love to play ball and it was fun to watch them go out there and make plays."
The Rockets (15-7) will return to Austin's Todd Park on Tuesday and face top seed New Prague in an elimination game at 4pm. The winner of that game will face another elimination game at 6pm for a spot in the section championship.
Farmington 1, John Marshall 0
John Marshall#000#000#0#—#0#4#3
Farmington#000#000#1#—#1#4#1
John Marshall: Grace Freed 1-for-2; Abby Gee 1-for-3; Lexy Andersen 1-for-3; Kaitlyn Ward 1-for-3. Pitchers: Emma Bartholomew 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Farmington: Olivia Hazelbaker 1-for-4 1 RBI; Tarah DeCrook 1-for-3 1 R. Pitchers: Olivia Hazelbaker 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.
John Marshall 8, Owatonna 1
(Elimination game)
Owatonna#000#001#0#—#1#3#4
John Marshall#200#330#x#—#8#7#01
Owatonna: Rilee Schmidt 1-for-3; Jamie Davison 1-for-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R; Hannah Fisher 1-for-3. Pitchers: Liv Larsen (LP) 4 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Alexa Sommers 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
John Marshall: Gina Pula 1-for-2, 1 RBI; Abby Gee 2-for-2, 1 2B, 3 RBI; Kaitlyn Ward 1-for-2, 1 RBI. Pitcher: Abby Miles 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.
