Two big innings would doom the Pierre Governors in the 9-4 loss to the Rapid City Central Cobblers in the opening game in South Dakota’s inaugural year of softball.
Pierre took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Hannah Lemieux doubled home the first ever run in Pierre Governor history, scoring Kara Weiss. Jenna Bucholz had the first ever hit for the Govs singling earlier in the inning. Pierre would take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second as Weiss and Noel Kist each had an RBI double. However, Central would score three times in the fifth and four times in the sixth to give the Cobblers the lead, taking advantage of five Governor errors. Khalan Smart had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough for Pierre to win the first ever game in school history. Ely Broers would go 3-3 with a double. Erin Leiferman would be tagged with the loss giving up nine runs, three earned on nine hits, six walks but racked up an impressive 13 strikeouts.
Pierre will travel to Aberdeen on Saturday to face Aberdeen Central and Watertown at the PC Dome.
