The United South Central softball team’s season came to a heartbreaking end on Thursday night, May 22, in Hayfield.

The Rebels lost to the Vikings by one run, 3-2, in a Section 1A West Subsection game.

The No. 3 seed USC Rebels were facing the No. 1 seed Hayfield Vikings in a must win situation in the double elimination bracket, with both teams having suffered an earlier loss. USC had lost to No. 2 seed Faribault Bethlehem Academy, and Hayfield had lost to No. 4 seeded Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

The game against Hayfield was a hard-fought, very close contest for the Rebels.

USC had taken a 2-0 lead. They scored one run in the fourth inning, then another one in the top of the fifth inning. However, Hayfield came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie up the game at 2-2.

Neither team scored in the sixth inning, and the Rebels were unable to score in the top of the seventh. However, the Vikings plated a run in the bottom of the seventh and took the 3-2 win and advanced in the tourney.

USC’s Mariah Anderson pitched the entire game and gave up the three runs on seven hits, walked only one batter and struck out an amazing 15 Viking players.

Anderson also led the team at the plate, going 2 for 3, with one of her hits being a triple. She also had an RBI.

The Rebels had six hits in the game, with Kendal Harpestad, Hannah Meyer, Sam Swanson and Kiera Schultz each getting a hit. Meyer was also credited with an RBI.

FBA 9, USC 4

The United South Central Rebel girls softball team lost a hard-fought game to Faribault Bethlehem Academy on Tuesday, May 24 in Faribault. The final score was FBA 9, USC 4.

The game was the second round of the Section 1A West Subsection Tournament. The loss drops the Rebels down into the loser bracket of the double elimination tourney and they still have a chance to advance to the Section 1A tourney.

The Rebels, who were the No. 3 seed, now faced the No. 1-seeded Hayfield Vikings in a game on Thursday, May 26, in Austin.

Against the FBA Cardinals on Tuesday, the Rebels had five hits to the Cards’ nine.

Molly Wegner led USC at the plate going 2 for 3. Mariah Anderson, Taylor Schroeder and Sam Swanson each had one hit, with Anderson’s hit being a triple.

USC scored one run in the top of the first inning, but FBA came back in the bottom of the first and scored three runs for a 3-1 lead.

The Rebels were scoreless in the second, and the Cards scored one, to go ahead 4-1.

However, the Rebels responded with three runs in the third to tie the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, it was their last scoring of the game while FBA scored one in the bottom of the third and four more in the bottom of the fourth for the win.

Anderson pitched all six innings and gave up nine runs on nine hits, walked six and struck out seven.

USC 3, Goodhue 2

The United South Central Rebel girls softball team won a thriller on Monday, May 23, when they broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

They ended up defeating the Goodhue Wildcats by a score of 3-2, in the first game of the Section 1A West Subsection. USC had been seeded at No. 3, while Goodhue was seeded at No. 6.

The Rebels took the early lead by scoring one run in the bottom of the first inning. That score stood until the fourth inning when the Wildcats scored two runs and took a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth inning USC scored one run to tie the game at 2-2, then broke the tie in the seventh inning.

Kendal Harpestad led the Rebels at the plate going 2 for 4, with one hit being a double and had two RBI. USC had six hits total, with Mariah Anderson, Taylor Schroeder, Sam Swanson and Erica Johannsen each getting one hit.

Goodhue also had six hits in the close contest.

Anderson pitched the whole game and allowed the two runs on six hits, issued no walks and struck out eight batters.

The Rebels now advanced to take on the No. 2 seed, Faribault Bethlehem Academy in a game played on Tuesday, May 24.

USC 11, ML/GHEC/T 6

The United South Central Rebel softball team exploded for eight runs in the first two innings, then hung on for an 11-6 win over the Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman Jaguars on Thursday, May 19.

The Rebels had six runs in the first inning and two in the second. The Jaguars scored a run in the bottom of the second and another in the third to make it 8-2.

USC scored two in the fourth and ML/GHEC/T matched it with two of their own in the fifth.

The Rebels scored one more in the seventh and ML/GHEC/T scored two in the bottom of the seventh to make the final 11-6.

The Rebels had 14 hits in the game. The team was led by Kendal Harpestad who was 3 for 3, one of them a double and one a triple, scored three runs and had two RBI.

Erika Johannsen was 3 for 4 with three RBI and one run scored and Mariah Anderson was 3 for 5 with a run and an RBI. Hannah Meyer and Taylor Schroeder were both 2 for 4. Meyer scored three runs and had an RBI while Schroeder scored a run and had an RBI.

Besides Harpestad, Schroeder, Meyer, Anderson and Johannsen all had doubles.

Once again it was Anderson who went all seven innings, giving up the six runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out 14.