ORONO &045; With this being the first such experience for the team, and many of the field of 30 teams being from the Twin Cities area, the goals were simple for the Albert Lea Sluggers in the 14-and-under Class C state fast-pitch softball tournament: Be competitive, have fun, and do at least as well as the other Southern Minny League entrants.

Mission accomplished.

The Sluggers played their best softball of the summer in breezing past three Saturday opponents by a combined score of 36-1. In reaching the round of four unbeaten teams on Sunday, the competition became much tougher and the Sluggers were eliminated from the double-elimination tournament and finished in fifth place.

Albert Lea faced West Side, a St. Paul team, in the opener, which was scoreless until the third when Chelsea Barrett scored the first of three runs in the inning. Another was added in the fourth after a leadoff triple by Liz Thompson and a sacrifice bunt by Hali Hendrickson. West Side would not get a base runner until one out in the fifth as Albert Lea claimed victory by a 6-1 score. Thompson was the winning pitcher as she struck out four and allowed no walks. Evin Sather led the offense with three hits. Thompson added two hits. Shelby Vietze and Marisa Cottrell each provided extra-base hits with a double and Kat Ladwig had the other safety for the locals. The Sluggers had a season-high four sacrifice bunts.

The next game was against Spring Lake Park, a team that was well rested after having a bye. They would need the rest as they were chasing drives all over the diamond. Albert Lea had nine hits, five for extra bases, in a 15-0 rout. Sather had both a double and triple. Dezi Jacobs, Niki Hendrickson and Shelby Vietze also had doubles with Ladwig, Cottrell, Barrett and Hali Hendrickson also contributing hits. Thompson was the winning pitcher, allowing only one baserunner. The Sluggers played errorless defense.

Next was the Lakeville Storm and, just like the first game, the Sluggers started fast while taking a 9-0 first-inning lead en route to a 15-0 victory. It featured the defensive play of the day when the Sluggers turned a nifty double play. With a Lakeville runner on first, Thompson knocked down a liner, picked it up, and threw to first to retire the batter. Niki Hendrickson then threw on to Hali Hendrickson who put the tag on the Lakeville runner before she was able to reach second. The Sluggers had 10 hits, four from well-placed bunts. Ladwig was the only Slugger with two hits. Jacobs, Missy Webb, Sather, Thompson, Niki Hendrickson, Barrett, Hali Hendrickson and Jordan Malimanek each had one hit. Thompson threw another shutout in gaining her 14th win. She walked none, struck out one, and was again supported by a defense that was error free.

Rains came Sunday morning and delayed starting times, causing tournament officials to shorten games from seven to five innings.

The first action on Sunday was against another Lakeville team, the Thunder. Ladwig started it with a hit up the middle, but she was Albert Lea’s lone baserunner in a 6-0 Lakeville win. Thompson took the pitching loss.

The next game was against Jimmy’s Pizza from Winsted. A comeback attempt fell short and resulted in a 14-4 loss. Thompson and Jacobs pitched. The highlight came in the third, when Sather hit a booming three-run home run that left even the opposing coaches and team in awe. Ladwig had two hits while Brianna Arthur and Barrett added one each.

The Lakeville Thunder went on to win the tournament, taking the championship game 10-2 over Esko. A St. Peter team took third and Jimmy’s Pizza ended up in fourth place ahead of the Sluggers.

Five Southern Minny League teams were among the 30 entered. Faribault and two Owatonna teams were eliminated Saturday. Austin lost its first two games on Saturday, then went on to win the consolation bracket.

The Sluggers end their season with an overall record of 23 -10, including 20-8 in the Southern Minny League which was good for second place.