Staff photo by Caleb Brinton. Martin County West's Sydney Clow delivers a pitch in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Valley Division girls softball game Thursday night in Welcome.

WELCOME – The Martin County West Mavericks held off a seventh-inning rally by the Nicollet Raiders to take a 10-8 victory in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Valley Division softball game Thursday night.

“We kind of struggled today,” said Mavericks head coach Darrell Ziegler. “We didn’t play very well overall on anything. … We had some nice hits [which] was probably the biggest thing as far as success out there. It was just not a sharp game for us today.”

Teya Schmidke went 4 for 4 with a double and an RBI to lead the Mavericks bats, while Rowan Faber went 3 for 4 with a double and six RBIs. Bailey Larson went 3 for 4 and an RBI, while Hannah Rosenberg went 3 for 5 with a double. Sydney Clow got the win in 4 �…” innings of relief, allowing six hits and two walks for two earned runs while striking out three.

Maddie Carlson got the start in the circle for the Mavs, going 2 �…” innings, allowing three hits and four walks for three earned runs. She struck out four.

Leah Bode pitched six innings and allowed 21 hits and three walks for 10 earned runs while striking out three in the loss for Nicollet.

The Mavericks started strong, retiring the side in the first inning. After stepping into the box, Rosenberg looped a ball into left field, giving the Mavericks their first base runner, but that ended up being the only hit of the inning for MCW.

The Raiders’ bats got going in the top of the second inning, quickly getting two runners on base, albeit one due to a hit by a pitch. Still, the Mavericks defense found its footing, and pitcher Carlson stranded two on base by striking out the final two batters faced in the inning. The Mavericks’ offense then got to work, with Courtney Anderson driving a ball to left field for a base hit, followed by a Larson single. Faber drove a ball into deep center field for a two-RBI double to put the Mavericks up 2-0.

It was the third inning when the Mavericks’ defensive struggles reemerged, with Nicollet hitting a lead-off single. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, and a pitch past catcher Emily Schettler allowed the first run for the Raiders to score. The same scenario played out with the next two batters, first a walk and then a run scored on a passed ball, tying the game at 2-2. A ball driven into the gap by the Raiders’ Jazmyn Goettlicher gained the lead before the MCW could get out of the inning down by one.

The Mavericks’ offense came to life in the bottom of the third inning when Addy Wohlhuter singled off a ball hit towards third base. Emily Anderson and Carlson were then walked to load the bases. Courtney Anderson hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right field to tie things back up at 3-3. The Mavericks put four more runs on the board before the end of the inning, capped off by a line drive hit toward second by Faber that brought in two runs, putting MCW up 7-3.

The Raiders scored one run in the top of the fourth, but the Mavericks kept their foot on the gas, quickly loading the bases courtesy of two singles and a walk. The scoring for the Mavericks resumed when Schettler hit an RBI single to short. It was Faber again with a single to center field that added the final two runs of the innings for MCW going up 10-4.

The fifth inning was quick, with the Raiders bringing one run home before a fly ball to center turned into a double play caused by some confusion with the Nicollet base runner. The Mavericks put two on base in the bottom of the fifth but were unable to capitalize on the runners in scoring position.

With the score at 10-5, the MCW defense went back to work in the sixth and held the Raiders to one run before the MCW offense stranded one on base to close the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Clow was three outs away from closing things out but the Raiders batters had other plans. A leadoff single by Bode followed by a double to right by Goettlicher put runners into scoring position before Lydia Martens was hit by a pitch to load the bases. It was an RBI single by Taylor Wilking that opened the scoring keeping the Raiders’ hopes alive and a walk pulled the Raiders within striking distance of the MCW lead 10-8. Maddison Kettner stepped to the plate with the tying run on second, but Clow was able to claim the strike out and the victory.

“Sydney usually throws a lot of strikes,” said Ziegler. “She doesn’t throw quite as hard, but she usually hits spots. Did a nice job at making them have to put the ball in play by hitting it. Instead of walking batters.”

The Mavericks now 2-0 will head to Mountain Lake for a 4:30 p.m. game Friday.