The Jackson County Central-Pipestone softball rivalry started well before any of the players who took the field for the latest edition on Thursday were born.
JCC came out on top in a pair of competitive games this time around, winning 13-3 in six innings and 2-0.
“Any time you can come away with two wins in a tight two days it’s a good day, but to do it against a team like Pipestone is great,” said Huskies coach Morgan Christopher. “It’s something that they (Pipestone) do to teams every year so it’s a nice accomplishment for us to get these wins. We’ll enjoy it, but then we have to get ready for Monday because that’s our next biggest game.”
The wins give Class 2A No. 9 JCC a record of 10-1 overall and 9-0 in the Big South Conference West Division. Pipestone is 5-6 and 5-4. The Arrows are under .500, but the combined records of the teams they’ve lost to is 33-6.
“We have a ton of respect for Pipestone and everything they’ve done over there,” Christopher said. “They’ve been at the top of the section and a force in the state for 20 years, so we’re excited to get these wins, but that’s not what our goal is.”
JCC scored the last 12 runs of the day.
In the first game, the Arrows pulled even at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning before the Huskies scored five runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth to end the game early by the 10-run rule.
Kinley VanDeVere, Mady Wachal, Bailey Finck and Lauren Johnson had two hits apiece in the opener. Hadley Wachal had four runs batted in, with three coming on a sixth-inning triple.
Hadley Wachal was the winning pitcher, going the distance and striking out eight.
Mady Wachal threw a shutout in the nightcap, allowing only single in the fourth inning and striking out 11.
Jackson County Central also had just one hit, a double in the top of the seventh inning by Lauren Johnson.
The Huskies are at St. James Area for a 5 p.m. game on Monday.
BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE
Softball standings
Through May 3
Small School Division
Jackson County Central 9-0
Fairmont 9-2
St. James Area 7-3
Pipestone 5-4
Luverne 5-6
Windom 3-6
Redwood Valley 2-8
Blue Earth Aea 0-11
Division games only
Large School Division
New Ulm 5-1
Tri-City United 5-1
St. Peter 6-2
Belle Plaine 3-2
Worthington 4-5
Waseca 0-6
Marshall 0-6
Division games only
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central is one of three teams in Section 3AA with one loss.
In the South Sub-Section, the Huskies are 10-1 and Minneota/Canby is 9-1.
The lone loss for Class 2A ninth-ranked JCC was 3-2 at 2A No. 2 Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (11-1). The Vikings loss was 4-0 to Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta on April 12 in the championship game of a tournament in Morris. It was the third game of the day for both teams.
Jackson County Central and Minneota/Canby have no common opponents to date. The Vikings are in a tournament in Windom Saturday with the host Eagles and Fairmont.
Out of the North Sub-Section, MACA (11-1) lost for the first time this season Thursday, falling 5-2 at home to undefeated Melrose (11-0). Those teams play again at Melrose on Tuesday.
Section 3AA records
The won-loss records for Section 3AA teams through Saturday. The record vs. section opponents is in parenthesis.
South Sub-Section
Jackson County Central 10-1 (6-0)
Minneota/Canby 9-1 (1-1)
Luverne 6-6 (4-3)
Pipestone 5-6 (3-2)
Windom 4-7 (0-4)
Redwood Valley 4-9 (1-4)
North Sub-Section
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 11-1 (5-0)
New London-Spicer 7-5 (4-1)
Dassel-Cokato 6-5 (1-0)
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 5-6 (0-3)
Litchfield 5-7 (0-3)
Minnewaska Area 4-7 (1-1)
Montevideo 1-11 (0-4)
State leaders
According to statistics on minnesota-scores.net, JCC is fifth in the state in runs scored per game among Class 2A teams and ninth in runs allowed.
Here are the top 10 teams in each category. Listed are team, won-loss record through Saturday in parentheses and runs per game.
Runs scored
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (12-1) 12.1
St. Clair/Loyola (6-5) 11.8
Kimball Area (13-0) 11.6
St. Cloud Cathedral (13-1) 11.5
Jackson County Central (10-1) 11.2
Spectrum (8-0) 11.2
Hawley (11-0) 11.1
Randolph (13-0) 10.9
Visitation (9-12) 10.6
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (5-6) 10.1
Runs allowed
Spectrum (8-0) 0.0
Randolph (13-0) 0.5
Kimball Area (13-0) 0.6
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (12-1) 1.0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (11-1) 1.0
Caledonia (11-1) 1.0
Melrose (11-0) 1.7
Hawley (11-0) 1.7
Jackson County Central (10-1) 1.9
St. Agnes (12-2) 2.1