The Le Mars Community softball team made it past the first round of the postseason for the first time since 2021 with a 5-1 win over Humboldt at home on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs were thrown a curveball seeing a different pitcher than they were anticipating to see to start the game. Humboldt’s starter, Adalee Nolting, gave the Bulldogs a different type of pitch that was a little tougher for Le Mars to square up. Le Mars head coach Brooke Berkenpas says the girls had to make some adjustments to improve their plate appearances.
As the game progressed, Le Mars was consistently putting baserunners on. That led to a run in the third and in the fourth innings and another three runs in the fifth inning. Those baserunners put Le Mars in a great spot scoring three of their five runs on wild pitches or passed balls. The other two runs came off hitters that needed big hits including Kylie Hofmann who had two hits and a double while driving in a run.
Brenna Leraas seemed to get better as the game progressed. She allowed two hits in the third inning that gave Humboldt a run. After that, they were pretty hard-pressed to get on base getting just three hits against her in the final four innings. She finished with 11 strikeouts in her 17th win of the season. Coach Berkenpas says the big key to her dominance was limiting free passes.
Le Mars now turns their attention to a tough test in the regional semifinal matchup. The Bulldogs will take an early trip to Fort Dodge for a game two rounds before the state tournament with the sixth-ranked Dodgers. Coach Berkenpas says the Bulldogs might be underdogs on paper, but they are not going to have that mentality going into the game.
The Bulldogs and Dodgers will meet in Fort Dodge at 7:00 PM on Saturday night. The game will be played at the Harlan and Hazel Rogers Softball Complex.
