Spencer, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – Spencer Softball opened up the Class 4A Region 3 Tournament with a dominant effort Thursday night at the Spencer High School Softball Field against Le Mars.

Jersey Vail was the starting pitcher for the Tigers and fanned three of the first four batters in the top of the 1st inning.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Spencer offense exploded.  Le Mars starter Easton Schroeder struggled to throw strikes, and when she did, the Tiger bats made her pay.

The first eight plate appearances for Spencer all scored before Kelsi Sonius and Dakota Lux recorded back-to-back sacrifice flies for the first two outs.  Right after that, Mercedes Kreig came to the plate with a runner on 2nd.

Spencer scored 9 runs in the 1st inning, 8 earned, on 3 hits, 1 Bulldog Error, and left two on base.

The Spencer defense made quick work of Le Mars in the top of the 2nd, before striking for 6 more runs in the bottom half.  Brynn Merchant had the highlight hit of the inning with a bases clearing double to make it 14-0.

Spencer cruised to a 15-0 drubbing of Le Mars, advancing to the Class 4A Region 3 Semifinals where they will take on the #2 seed Bishop Heelan of Sioux City.  That game will be played in Sioux City at Scheels Park, part of the Riverside Park Complex, at 7:00.  We will bring you the broadcast of that game on News Radio 102.5 and AM 1240 KICD and NorthwestIowaNow.com.

Box Score   R   H   E   LOB

Le Mars          0    2     1      5

Spencer         15    7     1      4

WP: Jersey Vail (24-6) 4IP 2H 0R 1BB 8K

LP: Easton Schroeder (5-16) 1IP 4H 7R(6ER) 4BB 2K

Mercedes Kreig (Spn) 2-3 2R 2RBI 2H HR SB

Brynn Merchant (Spn) 1-2 2R 3RBI 2B BB ROE

Madi Steven (Spn) 1-1 2R H BB HBP