Madison Evans was outstanding on the mound for Lincoln in the quarterfinal round of the ‘AA’ state softball tournament on Thursday. She recorded 15-strikeouts in the five-inning game as the Patriots defeated Watertown 14-0.
It wasn’t a perfect game, as she walked one runner, but Evans contributed every out in the game for Lincoln, all K’s.
“I was feeling more prepared than I normally do, because we had a week off between the SoDak 16 and this game, so I had some time to tune up my pitches,” Evans told. “I had given my arm a rest, so I was feeling fresh for this game.”
Evans did admit that she starts keeping track of her strikeouts on days like today, and that her teammates joke with her about not getting much action when they’re in the field.
“They say, “do you want to share with us,” and I’m like “no.” I think it sets the tone for the rest of the weekend,” said Evans. “I think it gets everything off on the right foot, builds confidence for the rest of the games.”
Patriots head coach Trent Dlugosh feels blessed to have a pitcher like Madison Evans on his team, because every time she’s on the mound, she gives the team a chance to win.
“You always feel like if you’re ahead by two, it feels to the other team that you’re up by ten. You don’t panic when she’s on the mound, because you know they might score some, but they’re not going to score ten, they’re not going to score twelve,” coach Dlugosh explained. “You’re always in the game when she’s out there. She’s like a security blanket.”
Lincoln held a 2-0 lead through three innings of play, but then their offense exploded in the fourth inning, as they scored twelve. Four batters recorded two RBI’s for the Patriots – Avery Dorman, Norah Christensen, Paxton Dekkers, and Hayden Kok.
“We have so much power in the middle of the lineup, but sometimes we have a tendency to wait around to hit a homerun,” said Coach Dlugosh. “We talked right before that [fourth] inning. “Hey, we don’t need home runs, we need base runners, and the girl behind you can hit too. Just pass the bat, pass the bat.” We got the big home run from Paxton [Dekkers], but then it was a lot of right back up the middle and pass the bat. Just a lot better approach that last inning.”
The Patriots are riding the wave of a perfect season. Coach Dlugosh is committed to his players staying relaxed, and having fun, even though the expectations for this season are high.
“All year we’ve just wanted to stay loose and take the pressure off of them. They’ve earned this pressure, everyone is gunning for them every game, so they’ve earned that,” said the Lincoln skipper. “But, they’re also 14-18 years old, so we just try to take the pressure off of them and have fun. They know how to play, they know what it takes to win, so it’s one at a time.”
And for Madison Evans, who is a senior this year for Lincoln, she thinks this might be the best softball team that her school has ever fielded – even during their club days.
“This is probably the best team that Lincoln softball has ever seen, and that’s saying a lot coming the history of this program,” Evans stated. “We have great culture, we have great energy, everyone gets along, so I’m just happy to be here with this team.”
Evans is committed to playing softball next season for the University of South Dakota.
The Lincoln Patriots advance next to the semifinal round on Friday where they’ll play either Brandon Valley or Jefferson at 3 pm CT.
