The Blue Earth Area softball team traveled to Redwood Falls on Thursday, April 17, for a doubleheader against the host Redwood Valley Cardinals.

RWV 16, BEA 2

An 11-run fourth inning by the Cardinals broke open a close game and helped Redwood Valley cruise to a 16-2 victory.

The Bucs got on the board in the top of the first inning. Lead-off hitter Ava Grant hit a double to right field and advanced to third base on Makayla Grant’s ground out to the second baseman. Another ground out to the second baseman, this one by Abigail Greff, brought Grant home with the first run of the game.

BEA held the Cardinals scoreless in the bottom of the first inning but Redwood Valley tied the game up with one run in the bottom of the second inning.

A lead-off home run by Ava Grant in the top of the third inning put the Bucs back on top 2-1. However, the Cardinals pushed four runs across the plate in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead.

BEA failed to score in the top of the fourth inning and Redwood Valley’s 11-run outburst in the bottom of the inning extended the home team’s lead to 16-2.

The game ended after the Bucs did not score in the top of the fifth inning.

Jessi James took the loss after pitching the first three and one thirds innings. Ava Grant relieved James in the bottom of the fourth inning to record the last two outs.

BEA scored two runs on five hits while committing eight errors. The Cardinals had 16 runs on nine hits. They committed one error.

RWV 17, BEA 5

The second game also was won by the Cardinals. The final score was 17-5.

Redwood Valley was the visiting team on the scoreboard for the second game and they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

After holding BEA scoreless in the bottom of the first inning, the Cardinals scored nine more runs in the top of the second inning to increase their advantage to 10-0.

BEA scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to narrow Redwood Valley’s lead to 10-4. Samantha Meyers and Kailey Boettcher each walked to start off the Bucs’ second inning.

Following a strikeout, Sophia hall reached on a walk to load the bases with one out. A single by Jessi James drove in Meyers with BEA’s first run of the game and left the bases loaded.

Another strikeout gave the Bucs two outs. Ava Grant walked to force home another run for BEA. A single by Reagan Machacek brought home Hall and James with BEA’s third and fourth runs of the game.

The Cardinals added single runs in the third and fourth innings and tacked on five more runs in the top of the fifth inning. BEA added one more run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Redwood Valley’s totals were 17 runs on 15 hits with no errors. BEA scored five runs on six hits while committing seven errors.