Fireworks came early to the Iowa Great Lakes last night, and you can thank Spirit Lake’s Emily Mercer. The sophomore catcher came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh of a tie game with rival Spencer. Mercer knocked a solo homer beyond the centerfield wall for the walk-off 7-6 win and a season split with the Tigers. Mercer’s blast gave her two RBI and two runs scored on the night. Cara Vale drove in a pair and was the winning pitcher, while Paige Krause hit her third home run of the season. However, the walk off would not have happened had Alli Gerking not singled and scored to start the seventh. The Tigers were led by Ally Mahrt’s 2-for-4 night with a two-run homer. The Indians are now 17-10 overall and 4-7 in the Lakes Conference, as Spencer falls to 5-18 on the year and 2-8 in league play.
In other softball action Monday night, Okoboji fell to Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 5-1, Harris-Lake Park shutout Clay Central-Everly 12-0 in three innings, which is all that was needed for seventh-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton to defeat Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 16-1, Graettinger-Terril surpassed Armstrong-Ringsted 10-6, it was Emmetsburg 6 and LeMars 2, Estherville-Lincoln Central outscored Storm Lake 11-5, and West Lyon blanked Sibley-Ocheyedan 7-0.
Tonight we bring you a doubleheader of softball on our sister stations. On Q102, it’s Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn playing host to South O’Brien in the War Eagle Conference. And on Y100, catch Laurens at Emmetsburg. Both will begin at approximately 6:45pm with the pre-game coverage.
