Southeast Valley’s varsity softball team traveled to Ogden to compete in the Bob Morgan Classic. The Jags were scheduled to play Carroll starting at 9 o’clock in the morning followed by a matchup with the Ogden Bulldogs at 10:45. The Jaguars faced adversity and were tested time and time again, but prevailed and walked away with two wins, ending their debut week record with four wins and zero losses. 

In the first game of the morning, the Jags took on a bigger school competing against the Carrol Tigers. The Tiger would jump to an early lead in the first inning going up 2-0 and adding one more in the fourth to bring the score to 3-0. The girls weren’t ready to give up and plated one of their own in the fourth inning to bring the Jags within two after senior Jordyn Rowley roped a triple to the left field side and sophomore Camryn Lane laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to bring her home. Carrol would take the momentum back in the fifth scoring two more runs making the score 5-2 in favor of the Tigers. The Jags never gave up and rallied in the sixth inning to knot up the score at five runs a piece. Southeast Valley caught the contagious hitting bug starting with junior Chloe Lambert hitting a hard single up the middle that the Carroll second baseman couldn’t handle, allowing Lambert to reach first safely. With sophomore Laila Christopherson running for Lambert at first, Jordyn Rowley stepped up to the plate and blasted her second extra-base hit of the day (a double) over the centerfielder’s head. The Jags had two runners in scoring position when Camryn Lane singled, loading the bases for senior Leilah Olson. Olson’s single to the right side would score Christopherson, setting up sophomore outfielders Riley Carlson and Brooke Peterson to plate Rowley and Lane in order to give the Jags a chance as time had expired. Going into the seventh inning, with the international rule in play, the Jags stepped on the gas, executed, and never looked back. Ellie Nolte would start on second base for the Jags and would reach third off of another Chloe Lambert single. In her first varsity start, sophomore left fielder Camryn Lane stepped into the box with a tie score, two outs on the board, and the winning run waiting on third base and with just one strike on her, Lane would bounce a game winning single up the middle of the field to plate Nolte and seal the Jag’s third victory of the season by a score of 6-5 over the class 4A Carroll Tigers.

Against the Bulldogs from Ogden, Southeast Valley kept their momentum, notching their fourth win by a score of 6-4. In this game, the Jags would be the ones to strike early and often in their half of the second inning going up 2-0. Sophomore Camryn Lane’s hitting streak would continue as she hit the first single of the game and put herself into scoring position after a pair of stolen bases. Following Lane’s hit, junior Lauren Eslick would load speed on the base paths for the Jags. Sophomores Riley Carlson and Brooke Peterson would again team up to score both runners (Lane off of Carlson’s hit to shallow right field and Eslick as a result of Peterson’s double down the right field line). The Jags would go on to score four more in the bottom of the third. Laila Christopherson would run for Rian Schlief after a dropped ball in center landed her safely on first. Chloe Lambert would move Christopherson to third on a single to left field. Camryn Lane produced another big play at the plate squeezing a bunt to plate Christopherson followed by a double hit off the bat of junior Lauren Eslick who would score Lambert from second base. Camryn Lane would stand on third with Eslick on second while senior infielder Leilah Olson stepped into the box. Olson would bring both Lane and Eslick in to score on a double of her own to center field. 

Sophomore Rian Schlief showed out in the circle demonstrating poise, discipline, and grit on the mound. In their first game of the day, Schlief worked with a tough zone but still managed to strike out seven while allowing just one earned run. Her work in the circle forced the Tigers to hit into a strong defense behind her and the Jags prevailed in game one. In game two, Schlief would throw five complete innings facing 23 batters. She would allow just two runs with one strike out and several pop flies or routine grounders into the defense behind her. To close out the day, junior Chloe Lambert would step into the circle to finish innings six and seven. Lambert would face nine batters, strike out two, and allow two hits and one run. 

After a successful first week, Southeast Valley softball looks to carry the momentum with them into another full schedule of games starting with Saint Edmond’s in Harcourt on Tuesday night for a JV/Varsity match up followed by a couple of road trips; one to Peterson to take on conference foe Sioux Central on Wednesday, and a non-conference matchup with Algona on Thursday followed by a varsity only conference game against the visiting Cougars from Manson Northwest-Webster.