(Anita) -- CAM (15-9) used a late-game run frenzy to take down Stanton (4-20) by a score of 15-6 in the first round of the Class 1A Region 3 softball tournament Friday.
The Cougars scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn what was a tightly-contested game into a dominant victory.
“I thought we competed well,” CAM head coach Larry Hunt said. “Our focus was there probably 90-95% of the time. We need to be a little bit more disciplined at the plate, but defensively I thought [the focus] was there and I thought the girls competed for seven innings.”
The first four innings of the game were a seesaw, with both squads enjoying abundant offensive opportunities.
Stanton’s Abby Burke commenced the scoring frenzy with a two-RBI double in the top of the first inning. CAM answered quickly in the bottom half when Kylie Nelson, Karys Hunt and Mady McKee all drove in runs to make it 4-2 Cougars.
After Stanton plated one run in the top of the third, CAM quickly extended its lead when a sacrifice fly by Jenna Platt and a Stanton throwing error scored two runs, making it 6-3.
Stanton refused to go away, though, as the Viqueens got three more across home in the fourth to tie the game at 6-6.
The numerous momentum swings showed promise for an exciting finish, but CAM continued to hammer away on offense.
“It was all about staying focused until we got to the fifth inning,” Hunt said. “Then we kind of blew it open.”
The Cougars blew it open and then some.
All but two players in the CAM lineup scored at least one run in the fifth inning, highlighted by a pair of two-RBI singles by McKee and Mallory Behnken.
“It was later in the game and still tied up, but we weren’t worried at all,” McKee said. “We had confidence in ourselves. We decided to stay disciplined at the plate and I think that really helped in the [fifth] inning.”
McKee was a major part of the CAM’s success at the plate, delivering multiple timely hits and finishing the night 2-4 with four RBI.
“Earlier in the season I liked to get ahead of the ball, I usually don’t really like to wait back,” McKee said. “Tonight I really focused on that and not hitting it at the very end of my bat. I worked on that before the game in the cage so I think that helped a lot.”
In the circle, Helen Riker went three innings and allowed four earned runs before being relieved by Emma Follmann, who pitched four innings and allowed two runs.
With this win, CAM will continue on the road to the state tournament.
The Cougars will get a short break for the holiday weekend before shifting their focus to their next opponent, Fremont-Mills, which defeated East Mills 10-1 Friday.
“We’re going to take it one pitch at a time,” Hunt said. “We want to play defense one pitch at a time and take it one pitch at a time on offense. When we play well, we’re pretty good. We just have to have the mentality that it’s one pitch at a time and get off the field with two outs.”
Fremont-Mills will host the second-round regional matchup against CAM in Tabor July 6 at 7 P.M.
View video interviews with Hunt and McKee below.
