Hawley Softball Heads to State Tournament Behind Stellar Pitching

First time Nuggets are back at state since 2014

HAWLEY, Minn — Its been a 7-year absence from the state tournament for Hawley softball. The Nuggets closed out a section title with just two losses in the regular season and needing to battle back in a second game to take the championship.

Much of that success has come from pitching. Abby Rux and Ellie Hastings have been a dominant one-two punch. Both have combined for over 20 wins, 200 strikeouts,  150 innings and ERA’s below 1.60. Head coach Jackson Lyngaas says their play trickles down and sparks the rest of the team.

“Both of them have great chemistry with our catcher Adie Downer. They work on their softball pitching all year round so its fun to see the success they’ve had this season,” Lyngaas said. “To potential play two games in a day against tough teams. Having two elite pitchers going for us gives our team a lot of confidence and they’re teammates have a lot of confidence in them to get the job done.”

No easy task getting to that second game, Nuggets will have to hand the number one seed Lsuer-Henderson just their second loss. First pitch there is 1 p.m. Tuesday.