Snyder’s bomb completes Blossoms’ comeback

Blooming Prairie softball earned arguably its biggest win of the season at the University of Minnesota’s Jane Sage Cowles Stadium tonight after star third baseman Shawntee Snyder sent a no-doubter home run deep over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Awesome Blossoms a 12-10 win.

The Awesome Blossoms trailed by seven runs after the top of the fourth inning, but showed no signs of quit when it mattered most.

“I’m not going to lie, I was very frustrated through the first four innings with how we were playing. I thought that we are a much better team than how we were playing, but I have to give credit to the girls, they did not give up. They bounced back and hit the cover of the softball, and I’m super proud of the way they got the job done,” said Blooming Prairie head coach Cam Rutledge.

NRHEG took all of the momentum in the game early on with a four-run second inning that saw the Awesome Blossoms commit four errors.

The Panthers looked imposing through the next two innings by scoring three more runs to put Blooming Prairie on their heels, but the real game was just getting started.

A five-run bottom of the fifth for the Awesome Blossoms shook up the score, making the game a now manageable two-run affair at 7-5.

NRHEG managed to gain some momentum back with a two-run top of the sixth, but it was quickly nullified by two more Awesome Blossoms’ runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Panthers were blanked in the top of the seventh, leaving the Awesome Blossoms with one opportunity to tie the game or take the lead.

With two outs and trailing by two runs, Blooming Prairie’s Anna Haberman stood tall at the plater with runners looming on second and third.

Haberman quickly went down in the count 0-2, but when the Blossoms’ needed her most, she delivered with a hard hit ball through the right side of the infield to score both runners and make the game at 9-9.

“I was just trying to take a breath and get on base. The ball hit the sweet spot when I swung and all I thought was, “Let’s go,” said Haberman.

Blooming Prairie was stopped shortly afterward and both teams took the field again for the eighth inning.

Much to the delight of Panthers fans, NRHEG struck in the top of the eighth with a run to lead 10-9 heading into the bottom of the inning.

Blooming Prairie managed to get two runners on base when Snyder – the team’s No. 3 hitter in the lineup – took the plate.

The junior quickly went up in the count 2-0, but a tough pitch from NRHEG’s Faith Nielsen fooled Snyder for an awkward swinging strike.

The next pitch did anything but fool Blooming Prairie’s premier slugger.

Snyder took a fastball deep to centerfield on a swing that brought every Awesome Blossoms fan to their feet.

“It felt so good. I could feel it right off the end of the bat like, ‘That’s gone.’ It’s so crazy, just seeing the team crowding the plate as I’m running home. Like all those other home runs don’t mean anything anymore, that one was my favorite,” said Snyder.

The win brings with it some sweet revenge for Blooming Prairie as the team was previously beaten 11-1 in six innings by the Panthers on April 27.

Team       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

NRHEG   0 4 1 2 0 2 0 1 10

BP            0 0 0 0 5 2 2 3 12