Photo by Kim Nelson: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton shortstop Braelynn Kirk (right) attempts to tag Russell-Tyler-Ruthton third baseman Taylin Thooft at second base during a non-conference softball game in Tyler on Friday.

TYLER — In a back-and-forth game between Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, the Panthers came out on top with an 8-5 victory on Friday afternoon.  Timely hitting and solid pitching for TMB gave them the upper hand in a duel between the Panthers’ Gretchen Lanoue and the Knights’ Jaida Fricke. 

“I was very proud of our team today.  When you get down 5-1, it can go two ways.  But our team picked up their efforts, and battled back with some clutch hits, especially scoring the two insurance runs that were huge for us,” TMB head coach Karl Campbell said, adding that Lanoue has pitched great for the Panthers since her return from a knee injury and that Melaina Ankrum’s relaxing at the plate allowed her to show her upside potential. “This is a fun group of both seniors and underclassmen.  You can see by the way they support each other that they enjoy playing the game.”

Fricke also was outstanding in the circle, making several sparkling fielding plays in addition to pitching a solid game.  But a big five-run fourth inning by TMB, aided by some RTR miscues in the field, proved to be the difference in the game.

“I was a little nervous at the start, pitching against my former team, but they were good competition and I had to show up for us,” Fricke said. “We have some new players in the field, and we need to make some adjustments that will come over time.”

Melania Ankrum led off the game with a triple and scored on a Lanoue single to give TMB an early 1-0 lead. 

RTR answered in the bottom of the first, with Laken Baartman leading off with a double and Fricke driving her in with a drive to right-center. After a wild pitch, Kynsi VanderPlaats followed up with a fielder’s choice to drive in Fricke.

In the bottom of the third, RTR scored three more runs for a 5-1 lead.  Baartman drew an intentional lead-off walk, and Paisley Thooft coaxed a walk.  Fricke reached on a fielder’s choice, and after a VanderPlaats walk, Payton Johansen singled to drive home Baartman. Taylin Thooft then singled to drive home two more runs, and RTR had a four-run lead heading into the fourth.

But in the top of the fourth, TMB batted around, and with a couple of miscues by RTR and some timely hitting, they were able to score five runs to take a 6-5 lead. 

Piper Freeburg led off with a single, and Braelynn Kirk followed that up with another single.  A walk loaded the bases, and Brianna Duscher drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.

Kendra Timmerman drove in another run with a ground out, and after an intentional walk to Ankrum, an error allowed two more runs to score. Lanoue then singled home the fifth run of the inning to give TMB a 6-5 lead.

“I told the girls that we played really well at times, but between the fourth and seventh inning, they scored seven runs, and that was the difference in the game,” RTR head coach Darren Baartman said. “We didn’t make some plays in the field, and TMB has a good team that took advantage of the extra outs that we gave them.  We have to be more consistent, and we have to learn how to play with the lead. Sometimes, it is harder to play with the lead than it is to come from behind, because you get a little lackadaisical at times.  We have to learn how to stay aggressive, and that is hopefully something we can learn for the future.  We are a young team, and we will keep working to get the little things right.” 

Fricke did her best to keep RTR in the game by shutting down TMB with some clutch pitching, working out of Duscher’s double in the fifth and another triple by Ankrum in the sixth, but not allowing a run to score.

The bottom of the sixth started well, with Ellie Dybdahl drawing a lead-off walk, followed by another intentional walk to Baartman.  But Lanoue worked out of the inning, and kept the lead for TMB at 6-5.

In the top of the seventh, TMB was able to tack on two huge insurance runs.  Kirk laced a one-out double, and after a strikeout, Duscher drove in a run with another double.  Pinch hitter Ary Schultz drove in the final run with a double.  Lanoue shut down the Knights in the seventh to give TMB their fifth victory of the season.

TMB improves to 4-2 on the season and returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Lac qui Parle Valley at 4:30 p.m.

RTR falls to 3-6 on the season with the loss and next hosts Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey today for a noon doubleheader.