Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont pitcher Brylee Miller aims for her target during Saturday's contest against Annandale at Cardinal Park.

FAIRMONT – Lexi Sundeen came through with the game on the line.

The Fairmont softball team was on the verge of losing both games during Saturday’s four-team Strike Out Cancer Invite that took place at Cardinal Park. Game one saw the Annandale bats come alive in the seventh inning and score four consecutive runs to power past Fairmont 5-3.

Heading into the seventh inning of game two, Fairmont faced a similar disadvantage while trailing Cannon Falls 3-2. But with the help of Brylee Miller securing an RBI double to center field, Sundeen cashed in a batter later, ripping the ball through the right side of the infield to send her team home with a smile.

The competition this past weekend was stiff. But outside of competing tooth and nail in both games, what impressed Fairmont head coach Cory Hainy the most was his team’s response to the challenge. This poise is even more impressive with such a young team. A team with many players still getting used to the varsity level.

“We knew it was going to be tough today. We knew there were going to be three good teams coming to town,” Hainy said.

“We talk about it all the time. Softball is a game of failure. If you can’t handle failure, you’re going to have a hard time. You have to be able to bounce back, because it’s going to happen all the time.”

Fairmont will play at Windom Area this Tuesday, starting at 5:45 p.m. The Cardinals are now 8-3 in the young season.

Game one

The top of Fairmont’s batting order built an early lead in Saturday’s opening contest against Annandale. Three straight hits from Gwyneth Schultz, Miller and Sundeen scattered Annandale’s defense all over the field, plating two runs in a matter of minutes.

While that was most of what Fairmont would show on offense over the remaining six innings, the effort from Miller in the circle contained Annandale’s batting order from ever getting momentum. Through six frames, Miller had struck out nine batters and allowed just one run. The biggest of these innings came in the fifth, where her strikeout over Clara Peterson stranded runners on the corners to keep Fairmont’s 3-1 advantage.

Annandale’s comeback in the seventh inning didn’t stem from loud contact off the bat, but rather putting the ball in tough areas to reach. Madison Larson started things off with her third hit off Miller that placed right up the middle. A walk by Madilyn Swanson set up Grace Grude to collect her second and third RBIs of the afternoon with a double to the outfield.

Annandale tacked on two more runs after soft contact swings from Peterson and Hailey Jenniges fell through the Fairmont infield to keep the inning alive.

Fairmont was close to the equalizing runs after Ariel Oskerson and Nora Fitzgerald reached on base via a walk and a bunt single. But after Brooklyn Stone and Schultz followed this with two quick outs, Miller drove a linedrive directly to right fielder Charlotte Wolff to end the contest.

Miller finished her day pitching seven innings and striking out 11 batters. While she did allow 11 hits, only three of the five runs allowed were earned.

Game two

Game two was the complete opposite of what transpired earlier in the afternoon. Much of this was credited to Cannon Falls starting pitcher Ally Pagel. The senior was lights out in the circle early and often for the Bombers. She shut out the Fairmont batting order for the first five innings of the contest, allowing just three hits in that span with three strikeouts.

On offense, it was Pagel who delivered the third inning two RBI double that landed in left field to bring in Josie Sjoquist and Mya Menge from second and third. Cannon Falls added one more score in the fifth frame after Pagel’s pop-up to the outfield dropped for a hit. Lucy Nobach took advantage of the Fairmont error two batters later with an RBI single through the left side of the field to make it 3-0.

Fairmont’s bats finally got past Pagel in the home half of the sixth inning. Beginning with Schultz’s second hit of the contest, Miller whacked a ball over the head of centerfielder Rihanna Gomes, breaking for third base to put the Cardinals on the board.

Pinch hitter Layla Weihe kept the momentum going from her first at-bat single in the fifth, spiking a grounder towards second base that gave Miller enough time to slide home with ease.

Sundeen had one of her sharper innings of the day in the seventh to keep the score stalled. It took just seven pitches, but after forcing three consecutive infield pop-ups, the sophomore right-hander walked off the mound with another steady performance. She wrapped up the complete game with zero earned runs to her name, allowing four Bomber hits and tallying six strikeouts.

“Tonight she was just solid right away,” Hainy said on Sundeen. “Cannon Falls was No. 2 in our section, and she basically gave up zero earned runs and four hits. It was a stud performance.”

Stone gave Fairmont the spark in the final inning with her lone hit of the game going past Bomber shortstop Emma Templin. Schultz reached base for the third time on the afternoon after wearing a pitch on her shoulder. Consecutive hits from Miller and Sundeen forced all fans in Cardinal Park to stand up in applause for the home team.

“To be resilient, to be down 3-0 with two at-bats left, and to be able to pull that out, I said I was really proud of them,” Hainy said. “We’re a pretty young team. The stuff that we are seeing might be new for a lot of these kids. It’s a learning process, but the fact that we are able to come back… the resiliency is really good to see.”