TRAPPERS ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS; PHOTOS AT THE END
Scotland/Menno is one win away from playing for a Class B state softball championship.
Competing in the first round of the 2024 SDHSAA State Softball Tournament in Aberdeen early Thursday afternoon, May 30, the Trappers used a home run by Trinity Bietz to establish momentum early and dialed-in pitching from Olivia Binde to hold off a rally late to win a thrilling battle against Gayville-Volin at the Players Softball Complex on the northeast corner of the Hub City.
Scotland/Menno, the No. 5 seed, defeated the No. 4 Raiders 12-8 and will face defending Class B champion and No. 1-seed Castlewood Friday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
“I could not be more proud of this team — I could not be more proud of this team,” head coach Aisha Abnik said twice in the postgame huddle, just steps away from the team’s dugout, where contagious energy had practically willed the Trappers to victory. “I’m going to say it one more time: We’re not done yet.”
That was Abbink’s message to the team prior to Thursday’s game, which came at the end of what has been a very good second season for Scotland/Menno SDHSAA-sanctioned softball. The Trappers took an 11-4 record into the playoffs and advanced to state after beating Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy by the mercy rule 14-1 in the SoDak 16 on May 21. The first-round game at state was merely a continuation of what has been growing momentum; the Raiders had defeated the Trappers 9-6 on April 12.
“So much fun, my gosh,” said right fielder and Menno sophomore Lexie McNinch. “We have amazing leaders — all of them — and this team just feels like a family. It’s amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better team, honestly.”
Among those leaders is Binde, a spunky graduate from Scotland and the team’s top pitcher who threw 115 pitches in Thursday’s complete-game win in which she struck out 10 against just two walks.
“It felt really good, and the team backed me up really well,” said Binde, who took the mound in the bottom of the first with a 2-0 lead thanks to the 2-run blast from Bietz to left-center field. “I knew Gayville was hitters, so I knew I had to throw a lot of my curve balls and a lot of different sequences to catch them off guard.”
Scotland/Menno held a 5-1 lead after two innings and an 8-3 advantage in the fourth, but Gayville-Volin responded with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to tie the game at 8-8.
“Last time we played them they had 16 hits and they hit really well again today, too,” said Binde, who gave up 10 hits on Thursday. “Once they got onto me, I decided to go back to what I was doing in the beginning of the game, which was throwing it really low, and it worked out perfectly fine.”
Indeed, Binde had two strikeouts in what was a 1-2-3 sixth inning and faced just five in the last of the seventh to seal the win.
As for Scotland/Menno’s offensive output in those final two innings after the Raiders had tied the game, it was thrilling for the local fans. The Trappers regained the lead in the top of the sixth when Binde scored on a sacrifice groundout by Grace Robb, and then added three insurance runs in the top of the seventh, including two risky steals of home on a passed ball that scored Kaelie Derby first, and then Binde.
“For Kaelie to steal home when the ball was sitting seven feet away from the plate was gutsy,” Abbnik said, “and for Olivia having the guts to go home, too, was incredible.”
“Incredible” is an adjective also used by Derby.
“We were all a little nervous when they tied it, but once we started getting back into our groove, we knew that we would have it,” she said. “Playing with this team this whole year has been amazing. I think we have some of the most energetic and most lovable girls. We all get along so well and feel like family.”
“This is our second year for this co-op and this softball team, and it’s great,” said Bietz, who also won her second-straight shot put title the state track meet last week. “We all get along really well and just feed off each other’s energy.”
The Trappers hope to do the same against Castlewood on Friday and pull off an upset against the 16-4 Warriors.
“Just making it to the state tournament is obviously huge, but we think we can be that team,” said Abbnik. “We’ve just got to show up, execute the gameplan and stick together.”
In addition to her strong pitching, Binde finished 5-for-5 from the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. Nora Robb went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, Bietz knocked in three runs, and Derby, Grace Robb and Kaylie Guthmiller all added an RBI.
