Weekend road trip results 2 wins, loss, tie against Rapid City teams

It may seem that school has just started as the temps continue to bounce around in the 80s, but one fall sports season is heading into its home stretch.

The Lady Lynx softball team has just a handful of regular season games remaining before the state tournament scheduled for Oct. 1-2 in Sioux Falls. The Lynx are at Sioux Falls Lincoln on Thursday and host Yankton on Sept. 23. Crammed in the middle of those two games is the ESD Invitational at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls this Saturday. 

Brandon Valley made its annual trek to Rapid City over the weekend where the Lynx went 2-1-1. BV defeated Rapid City Central twice, and lost once and tied once with Rapid City Stevens, bringing the BV overall record to 5-9-2 on the season.

Softball is traditionally the first sport to complete its season each fall, but BV head coach Corey Christensen said there’s still time for the Lynx to make a potential post-season run.

“There’s always time. The season does happen fast so you try and do what you can in a short period of time,” he said. “Hopefully we’re the best versions of ourselves – as people and players – at the end of the year. That’ll give us a chance.”

Last week was a full one for the Lynx. They played their scheduled double-header with O’Gorman on Tuesday, and were able to squeeze in a Thursday double-header with Mitchell that was canceled the week prior because of weather. The Lynx then left the next morning for Rapid City where they played double headers against Central and Stevens.

The Lady Lynx are showing signs of being competitive against ranked teams. Stevens was No. 3 in the latest Class A poll. In their loss to the Raiders over the weekend, it was a sacrifice fly in the last at-bat that sank the Lynx, 2-1. Game 2 against the Raiders ended in a 7-7 tie.

“We did some better things this weekend,” Christensen said. “We’re continuing to try and get better. We had a couple of really well-played games this weekend and we’re playing well against good teams.”

BV is also showing spurts of quality at-bats, which no doubt will be needed in October.

In game 2 against Mitchell on Thursday, the Lynx cranked out 12 hits and plated 14 runs in a 14-1 shortened four-inning game. Coral Gonseth was 3 -or-3 in that game with an RBI. Elaina Rice and Tenley Rude had two hits apiece with two RBI. Kaley Smedsrud and Jorden Gabert also had two RBI each.

“The girls are starting to understand about having a plan and having an approach when they go to the plate,” Christensen said. “You have to stick to it. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but you have to stick to it. You can’t just go up there and guess. You have to have a plan and execute it to the best of your abilities.”

The ESD tournament this Saturday will be interesting, and a chance to gauge where the Lynx are at with the state tournament looming.

The ESD does not include any of the Metro Sioux Falls schools. BV will be in one pool with Watertown and Yankton, while Harrisburg, Brookings and Mitchell will be in the other pool. After opening with two games in their grouping, teams will cross pool-play to determine the finishing order amongst the six teams.

Harrisburg is a clear favorite at the ESD, and will likely battle with Sioux Falls Lincoln for a state title. Those two teams were in last year’s championship as well.

Harrisburg won both games of a double-header with the Lynx last month, outscoring BV 28-1 in the process.

“We’re getting better,” Christensen said. “Just one thing at a time and just trying to make sure we aren’t trying to do too much too fast.”