BROOKINGS – With a 14-3 win over Aberdeen Central on Thursday afternoon, the Brookings Bobcats are enjoying a 3-0 start. But despite their early success, Brookings head coach Emma Hardin believes her team is still trying to settle in during the opening stages of the season.

“We’re still trying to find our lineup and the groove of everything, but we’re feeling good to be 3-0 after the first three games of the year,” Hardin said. “We still aren’t playing our best softball, but now is not the time to play our best softball. It’s at the end of the season.”

The early innings of Thursday’s game showed what the Bobcats needed to work on. While their offense has been productive, their pitching and defense have shown some room for improvement.
Kylee Hoffman hit a lead-off home run off Kylie Moe in the top of the first inning and Avery Bendewald followed up with a single.

After Moe struck out Ayrlie Waldo, an error by Layla Jacobsma allowed runners on second and third with one out. A passed ball by Morgan Norgaard allowed both runners to advance to second and third before Kaylee Kiesow drove in a run on a line drive that ultimately ended the inning.

“I think we definitely need to clean it up a bit,” Hardin said of the Bobcats’ defense. “We need to be more crisp with things. It’s been cold and when our pitcher’s hands get cold, it’s hard to spin the ball, but it’s not an excuse. We still have to hit our spots and spin the ball. There’s some adversity with that, but everyone is dealing with it.”

While the Bobcats had issues in the field early, they had no such trouble at the plate. Norgaard led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk before Moe drove her in with an RBI single to make it 2-1. Some aggressive baserunning helped Moe score on Sydney Bebensee’s sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2 and Kymber Buys hit a triple before Tessa Twedt and Keisha Cushing drew walks to load the bases for Jacobsma to cash in with an RBI groundout to give the Bobcats a 3-2 lead.

Brookings’s offense continued to produce in the bottom of the second inning when Norgaard hit a one-out double and was driven in by Bebensee later in the inning. Twedt helped the Bobcats add another run in the bottom of the third inning with a one-out walk and stole second base before Jacobsma gave Brookings a 5-2 lead, but the real damage came after Hoffmann scored on a Norgaard error at shortstop in the top of the fourth inning.

Working with a 5-3 lead, Brooklyn Benthin hit a lead-off single and worked her way to third base on a wild pitch. Norgaard walked in the same at-bat before Moe singled to drive in both runs and worked her way around the bases with errors by Aberdeen Central’s Kaylee Dixon and Waldo to put Brookings up 8-3.

Bebensee followed up with a single and advanced to second base on the throw in the following at-bat before Buys drove her in with a single on her own. Twedt followed up with a walk and a double steal putting runners on second and third with nobody out before Buys scored on a passed ball.

Twedt’s baserunning allowed her to advance to third on the same play and Kinzley Grendler drove her in with a sacrifice fly that helped Brookings take an 11-3 lead and cap a six-run fourth inning.

The Bobcats put the finishing touches at the plate in the fifth inning when Benthin, Norgaard and Moe drew three straight walks before Bebensee drove in her third run of the game with a single and Moe scored on a defensive indifference.

Moe finished the game going 3-for-3 with three runs, a walk and two RBI at the plate while Bebensee went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI in the win. Norgaard also finished with three walks and four runs scored while Twedt drew three walks with three stolen bases and Buys went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a triple and an RBI.

The final product saw Brookings score in double digits for the second straight game, but even though the Bobcats have averaged just over 10 runs per game in the early going, Hardin believes there are still some improvements that could be made to the lineup.

“We’re hitting pretty well, which is fun but I told them, everyone is going to put their best defense up against us because we were state runner-up last year,” Hardin said. “We’ve got to come ready every game.”

The pitching also came around as Moe allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with four strikeouts in three innings. With Grendler coming in and allowing one unearned run on two hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in the final two innings, both players – along with fellow starter Tess Burns – continue to adapt to their new roles to open the year.

“Last year, Tess didn’t have to pitch the whole game and Kylie was having to play come in and play more of a closer role,” Hardin explained. “We gave Kinsey an opportunity in the game today and it was huge to get her some innings. We’re going to need all three of them to win games.”

But even with the room to grow, Hardin couldn’t help but be optimistic about where her team was heading. With a 3-0 start, the Bobcats see plenty of opportunities for progress including Saturday’s game against Sioux Falls Washington and could find themselves competing for a state championship once they sand out the edges.

“I think we can be really good,” Hardin said. “I’m hoping to be back in the state championship. I think that they’re hard workers. We have a great team culture and they play for each other. It’s going to be really fun to see how we progress through the season.”