Kylee Eckmann makes solid contact with the ball in BEA’s 8-5 victory over Redwood Valley.

Despite Claire Sullivan’s big day at the plate, the No. 9-seeded Blue Earth Area Buccaneers fell to the No. 8-seeded Tri-City United Titans 12-5 in the opening round of the Section 2AA softball playoffs in Lonsdale on Wednesday, May 22.

The game, which was postponed one day because of rain, saw the Titans score four times in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead.

BEA closed the gap to one run in the top of the second inning when Sullivan hit a home run with Taylor Klabunde and Ashlyn Klinkner on base. Sullivan’s blast over the center field fense made the score 4-3 in favor of TCU.

The Titans responded by tallying two runs in the bottom of the second inning to increase their lead to 6-3.

In the top of the third inning, Olivia Dutton, Reagan Machacek, Klabunde and Klinkner all walked which resulted in Dutton scoring the Bucs’ fourth run of the game. With the bases still full, Sullivan delivered a single to score Machacek and cut the Titans’ lead to 6-5.

Unfortunately for the Maroon and Gold, they were held scoreless for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, TCU added five more runs in the bottom of the third inning and one more in the bottom of the fourth to claim a 12-5 victory over BEA.

Sullivan went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in four runs. Klinkner was 2-for-3 and drove in the Bucs’ other run.

Dutton and Kylee Eckmann pitched three innings each for the Bucs.

BEA ends their season with a record of seven wins and 13 losses.

It was the final game of their high school careers for seniors Berkley Hagedorn, Olivia Dutton, Kyla Roiger, Kylee Eckmann, Taylor Klabunde, Ashlyn Klinkner and Claire Sullivan.

BEA vs. Redwood Valley

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers split a softball doubleheader with the Redwood Valley Cardinals winning the first game 8-5 before dropping the second game to the Cardinals by an 11-6 margin.

BEA 8, Redwood Valley 5

The Cardinals held a 2-1 lead through four complete innings, but a four-run outburst by the Bucs in the bottom of the fifth inning turned the tide BEA’s way.

The Bucs added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and foiled the Cardinals’ rally attempt in the top of the seventh inning to preserve their 8-5 victory.

Erika Gaydon singled to start the bottom of the third inning for the Bucs. Redwood Valley got the next two BEA batters out, but not before Gaydon moved into scoring position by stealing second base. Reagan Machacek’s single drove in Gaydon and cut Redwood Valley’s lead to 2-1.

Kyla Roiger led off the bottom of the fifth inning for BEA with a walk and advanced to third base on a single by Berkley Hagedorn.

A single by Gaydon drove in Roiger to tie the game at 2-2 with Hagedorn stopping at second base and Gaydon remaining on first.

Kylee Eckmann’s single to left field loaded the bases. Olivia Dutton was hit by a pitch to bring home Hagedorn and give the Bucs a 3-2 lead.

Following a fly out, Gaydon scored on a wild pitch to give BEA a 4-2 lead.

Eckmann, who had moved to third base on the wild pitch, scored on a passed ball to increase BEA’s lead to 5-2.

Claire Sullivan was hit by a pitch to start the Bucs’ bottom half of the sixth inning. Sara Wirth came in to run for Sullivan and moved up to second on a wild pitch before the Cardinal pitcher recorded two strikeouts.

Gaydon came to the plate and delivered a clutch single to score Wirth with BEA’s sixth run of the game.

Gaydon then stole second base and scored on a single to left field by Eckmann.

Eckmann advanced to second base on a wild pitch and moved to third base on a single by Dutton.

Another wild pitch allowed Eckmann to sprint home with the Bucs’ eighth run of the game.

Eckmann pitched all seven innings for BEA. She was charged with five runs (four earned) while giving up nine hits, walking three batters and striking out seven.

Both teams had nine hits during the game and the Bucs were charged with two errors while the Cardinals did not have any.

Gaydon was the leading hitter for the Bucs with three hits in three at-bats. She scored three times and had two runs batted in. Eckmann also had a multiple-hit game with two singles.

Redwood Valley 11,

BEA 6

Blue Earth Area pounded out 16 hits in the second game of the twin bill but Redwood Valley had 17 hits and the Cardinals defeated the Bucs 11-6 to gain a split in the doubleheader.

Kylee Eckmann and Reagan Machacek each had three hits in the contest while Taylor Klabunde, Ashlyn Klinkner, Kyla Roiger, Britney Hagedorn and Erika Gaydon each had two.

Olivia Dutton started on the mound and pitched four innings, giving up seven earned runs on 11 hits. She did not walk a batter and struck out one.

Eckmann pitched the final two innings and was charged with four earned runs on six hits. She struck out two batters and did not issue a walk.