The Panther softball team came out swinging in its 2017 opening weekend. ECC traveled to Packer Dome in Austin, MN, and tallied a 4-1 record for the weekend.
In Saturday's first game, ECC took the win 7-3 over Dakota County Technical College; Kayla Brady (1-0) was the winning pitcher. During the second game the Panthers dominated with a 26-0 win over Century College; Madison Monroe (1-0) was the winning pitcher. Saturday's final game was a closer matchup with North Platte, but ECC again came away with the win at 7-6. Bradi Yost (1-0) was the winning pitcher in the third game, with Kayla Brady hitting lead off double in the bottom of the 7th and Cali Byrn hitting a walk off single to win the game.
Sunday's games were just as exciting as the Panthers again took on North Platte and won 5-4; the winning pitcher was Brady (2-0), with the save going to Yost (1). Hayle Steele scored the tying run after Sami Mills had an RBI single and Byrn scored the winning run after Kaylee Rynish doubled. The final game of the day was a challenge for the Panthers, who came away with their only loss at 11-0; the losing pitcher was Sydney Kramer (0-1).
Leading the Panthers for the weekend was Mills, who was 10-14 with 6 stolen bases and 5 RBIs. Steele was 7-19 at bat, with 2 triples, 1 homerun and 6 RBIs.
The Panthers will be on the road for the next games at Graceland University on March 8; game times will be approximately 1 and 3 pm.