The Edgerton/SW Christian Flying Dutchmen were scheduled to open the 2021 softball season at home, but that game was washed out. That meant the first game of the season was held in Wanda. Did you just wonder to yourself, “Where’s Wanda?” It’s 80 miles a little bit north of and a lot of miles east of Edgerton, and it’s where the Dutchmen took on the Springfield Tigers in the Wabasso Softball Invitational. E/SW was originally scheduled to play three games in Wabasso, but one of the diamonds in Wabasso was too wet for playing, so Edgerton’s initial game was moved to Wanda. Then they moved to Wabasso where they played the Eagles of Apollo, a Class AAA school in St. Cloud.

It may have been the season’s first two games, but the Dutchmen looked in midseason form in all aspects. They banged out a combined 23 hits, allowed only three safeties, and made all the plays defensively (including some dazzling ones) as they defeated the Tigers 9-0 and the Eagles 14-0.

The Dutchmen got a double from Paris Van Dyke in the season’s first inning, but she was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple. The other two outs were strikeouts, which brought the Tigers up to bat. Senior Addison Fleisch-man toed the pitching rubber in Wanda and cruised through the first inning throwing just nine pitches (seven for strikes) getting a pair of popups and a 6-3 ground out.

E/SW’s bats came alive in the second inning starting with a triple by Maren Nerem. There wasn’t a softball fence at Wanda, which would have been around 220 feet from home plate. With no fence to help the outfielders gauge where they should be, they tended to play deeper than usual, but Nerem still hit the ball over the centerfielder’s head, which likely would have been a homer in Edgerton. Makenna Moss smacked a double in the inning; Makenzie Snyder slapped a single, and when the inning was over, E/SW led 3-0.