BRAINERD 鈥� Mya Tautges was a walk away from a perfect game.
The senior pitcher was her stellar self as she struck out 13 Bemidji Lumberjack batters to lead the third-seeded Brainerd Warriors to a 10-0, six-inning victory over the No. 6 Lumberjacks Thursday, May 22, during the Section 8-4A Quarterfinals.
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Tautges needed just 83 pitches for the complete-game victory. She threw 53 of those for strikes. Tautges now has 200 strikeouts for the season.
鈥淪he does what she always does,鈥� Warriors head coach Shane Jordan said. 鈥淪he hits her spots well. Her change-up is her key. If she can throw her change-up around the plate for strikes, she is almost unhittable. Change-up is key for her and she鈥檚 always been good at hitting her spots.
It was a small strike zone to start the game, which is fine, because I think it helps her narrow her focus and she did a heck of a job today.鈥�
After letting her defense get the first two outs, Tautges struck out three straight before walking Ridley Hadrava. She was the only base runner Bemidji could produce. Tautges then silenced the Lumberjacks鈥� bats for the final 13 outs.
The lefty batter was equally effective on the base paths as she drew an intentional walk in the first inning and then stole second and third before scoring on a wild pitch.
Macy Goral walked as well and scored on consecutive errors. Bemidji finished with six errors, which didn鈥檛 help Lumberjack pitcher Karley LaZella. The sophomore struck out six, but allowed 10 runs, two earned, on seven hits and three walks.
鈥淭hey saved her on Friday (Brainerd defeated Bemidji 13-1 Friday, May 16),鈥� Jordan said. 鈥淲e saw a different pitcher, so we were kind of excited for that. We enjoy the challenge. She鈥檚 a good pitcher, but our confidence is sky high. We want the best from everybody. We鈥檝e said that all year. We tried to play good competition because we want to see the best. We don鈥檛 think there is anybody out there that is better than what we鈥檝e seen.鈥�
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Brainerd doubled its score in the third when Ruthie Owen reached on an error and scored on Ari Halbert鈥檚 single. Jaycee Carlson then drove in Joze Tautges, who finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Carlson went 1 for 3 with two RBIs.
鈥淚鈥檇 say my confidence is pretty high, just considering at the start of the year to now, I feel like I鈥檝e just grown,鈥� Carlson said. 鈥�(Shane) Jordan definitely helps with it, too. He has so much confidence in us when we鈥檙e up to bat. It鈥檚 been good.鈥�
Mya Tautges walked again in the fourth and stole second. She then scored on an error in left field.
Joze Tautges led off the fifth by getting on base and her courtesy runner scored on a ground ball for a 6-0 advantage.
鈥淲e were just getting the ball in play and that鈥檚 so important,鈥� Carlson said. 鈥淓very ball in play is just another chance for an error by the other team. We have some really good hitters on the team. Ari can just smack them out there, the same with Ruthie and Mya. Then we have base hitters so we can make things happen.鈥�
Ericah Folden led off the sixth with a single. Mya Tautges reached on an error and Goral moved both over with a sacrifice bunt. Owen knocked one run in, and Taytum Goble singled in Mya Tautges. Joze Tautges singled in Goble before Halbert smashed a shot inches from her third home run of the season to end the game.
鈥淚 think we did everything well today,鈥� Jordan said. 鈥淲e pitched well. We hit well. We ran the bases well. I think it was our most complete game of the season. We鈥檝e had games where we鈥檝e gotten breaks, like maybe the other team had an error, but we didn鈥檛 get a timely hit. We talked about that lately and we got timely hitting today."
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Bemidji will host seventh-seeded Sauk Rapids-Rice at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at the BHS softball field.
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