MINNEAPOLIS — United South Central softball player Mariah Anderson has delivered all season.
On the biggest stage in the Class A championship game, the result was no different.
Anderson was dominant, striking out 19 in a two-hit shutout as the Rebels beat Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 2-0 to claim the state title at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota on Friday night.
The game’s only two runs came in the bottom of the third inning. USC’s Carissa Hanson drew a one-out walk, which was followed by a Hannah Niebuhr single. Both would come around to score following a pair of BGMR errors and a bases-loaded walk.
That was all Anderson would need. She scattered just two hits and walked none over the final four frames to secure the victory, facing just 23 batters and tossing 101 pitches.
It was a dominant state tournament for Anderson, who pitched three shutouts. In 19 innings, she allowed just four hits and no walks. She struck out a staggering 52 of the 62 batters she faced, and also led the Rebels with five hits in the tournament.
This is the first state softball championship in program history for USC, as a huge contingent of USC fans made the trip north after packing Caswell Park earlier in the week.
It’s a run the community won’t soon forget.
This story will be updated later.