Four homers power K-M past Triton

After weeks of waiting an opportunity finally arrived for the Kasson-Mantorville softball team to hold its season opener. While the opportunity didn’t come without some pulling of strings to have its matchup with Triton switched from a home game to a road contest, the KoMets showed that it was worth the wait slugging four home runs in a 10-0 victory over the Cobras.

“After practicing for almost five weeks indoors, it was very good for our team to get out and play a game,” K-M head coach Paul Mann said. “They’ve worked extremely hard and have been patient with the weather. It was nice for those seniors to get out and play their last opening game.”

There would be a little rust for the KoMets in the first inning as they weren’t able to get on the board, but the bats would awaken beginning in the second. Malia Schubert would rip a double to score K-M’s first runs of the year and it was a power display from there.

Meredith Wright would slug her first home run of the season to give the KoMets a 3-0 lead after three innings while Morgan Ness and Catiera Thome would go back-to-back in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 8-0. Wright would cap off the inning with her second home run of the night to inflate the K-M lead to 10-0 after four innings.

“We preach quality at-bats more so than power,” Mann said of his team’s approach at the plate. “If the girls stay consistent with their at bats and know where in the zone they are the strongest, the power will be there in the end.”

The 10-run surge would be more than enough for pitcher Ashley Christianson, as she navigated through the Triton lineup for her first career shutout while scattering four hits and a walk to help the KoMets start their season off on the right foot.

“Ashley did a nice job,” Mann said. “She stayed calm and forced them to hit the ball. We made the plays that we needed to make and that makes a pitcher’s job much easier.”

The KoMets own a 1-0 record after getting their first victory of the season, but it appears that it may be another week before they get into the heart of their schedule. With a blizzard covering the region this past weekend, games at Albert Lea and a home game Northfield had already been postponed at the time of publication with a Friday night matchup with Osseo in jeopardy as well.

If things clear up, the KoMets will host Austin on April 23 and Stewartville on April 24.

While it may not be ideal to have another long wait in-between their next game, the one thing that can be said is if the KoMets play like they did in the opener, it may be well worth the wait.