Mariah Anderson, pictured fourth from the left in the front row, holds a poster after becoming the all-time career record holder in strikeouts in Minnesota State High School League softball. Anderson set the record on May 14 in a 20-0, five-inning win over the Medford Tigers. She set the record while recording her 14th, and final, strikeout of the game. Her 1,643rd strikeout broke the previous record set by Kasson-Mantorville pitcher Maddie Damon in 2015.

The No. 2-seeded United South Central Rebels were upset by the No. 7-seeded Nicollet Raiders 1-0 in eight innings in the second round of the Section 2A Softball Tournament.

The Rebels moved to the elimination bracket where they will play Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey on Saturday, May 23 in the double-elimination tournament.

If USC defeats Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey, they will then face the loser of the game between No. 1- seeded Martin County West and No. 4-seeded Cleveland.

Nicollet’s winning run came in the top of the eighth inning when Taylor Wilking hit a one-out triple over the right fielder’s head.

The score came on a controversial play. A pitched ball squirted away from USC catcher Grace Walton who hustled to retrieve the ball. Walton threw the ball to pitcher Mariah Anderson at home and it appeared that Wilking dove into Anderson’s glove which held the ball. However, the umpire apparently ruled that Anderson was blocking the plate and the run was allowed.

The Rebels loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs but got out of the jam when their third baseman fielded a hard-hit ground ball and stepped on third base to end the game.

The pitchers’ duel featured Anderson striking out 15 batters while allowing two hits. The Raiders’ Brielle Osborne had eight strikeouts while giving up three hits.

Nicollet will face No. 3-seeded New Ulm Cathedral, the winners of an 8-2 game over Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey, on Saturday. The top-seeded Martin County West Mavericks advanced with a 7-0 win over No. 8-seeded Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. No. 4-seeded Cleveland defeated No. 5-seeded Sleepy Eye 12 -2.

All of Saturday’s games will take place at Caswell Park in Mankato. The games begin at 10 a.m.

SC 18, HL-O/F 0

The No. 2-seeded United South Central Rebels opened Section 2A softball play with a resounding 18-0 win over the No. 15-seeded Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda Wildcats on Tuesday, May 19, in Wells.

The three and a half inning victory advanced USC to the next round of the Section 2A playoffs where they will face Nicollet.

The Wildcats never had a base runner because USC pitcher Mariah Anderson pitched a perfect game and struck out all 12 of the Wildcat batters she faced.

USC scored five runs in the first inning with the big blast coming off the bat of Alivia Bruegger who hit a two-run homer that gave the Rebels a 3-0 lead. USC added five more runs in their half of the second inning before tallying eight more runs in the bottom of the third inning.

Anderson, Bruegger and Ivy O’Rourke each had two hits in the game with Anderson and Bruegger each driving in four runs.

LCWM 1, USC 0

The undefeated Class 2AA Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights kept their record unblemished when they squeaked by the United South Central Rebels 1-0 in softball action in Wells on Friday, May 15. It was the final game of the regular season for the Rebels. With the win, the Knights improve their record to 20-0 while Class 2A USC drops to 16-3.

The Knights scored the only run of the game in the top of the third inning on a solo home run by their pitcher Nettie Parsons. It was one of four hits that the Knights had during the game.

USC was only to get two hits off Parsons, who had 16 strike outs in her seven innings of work and allowed only three Rebels to reach base.

USC’s Reanna Obermeyer walked in the second inning and the Rebels did not have another base runner until Olivia Bird singled in the fifth inning. Mariah Anderson recorded USC’s other hit with one out in the sixth inning and moved into scoring position when she stole second base. However, Anderson was left stranded at second when Parsons struck out the next two Rebel batters.

Anderson went the distance for the Rebels and struck out 13 batters and walked three. USC committed one error in the game.

USC 20, Medford 0

United South Central pitcher Mariah Anderson is now the career strikeout leader in softball for the state of Minnesota. Anderson’s record-breaking strikeout came on her 14th, and final, strikeout of the night in the Rebels’ 20-0, five-inning win over the Medford Tigers. The strike out record was previously held by Maddie Damon of Mantorville and was set in 2015.

The USC offense gave Anderson plenty of support by scoring 20 runs on 19 hits.

The Rebels were leading 4-0 after four complete innings before erupting for 16 runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, Anderson began the contest by walking the first Medford batter she faced before retiring the next 11 Tigers in a row. The consecutive out streak was broken when a Tigers’ runner reached on a dropped third strike in the fourth inning, but Medford never had a runner get past first base.

Alivia Bruegger had a big day at the plate with four hits, including two doubles, in five trips to the plate. She also drove in five runs. Ivy O’Rourke collected three hits, while Brielle Obermeyer, Olivia Bird, Grace Walton, Izzy Bird and Hannah Niebuhr each had two.

Izzy Bird and Niebuhr each drove in three runs. Brielle Obermeyer and Reanna Obermeyer each had two runs batted in.