From efficient pitching to timely hitting, Aberdeen Central put it all together at Koehler Hall of Fame Field Tuesday afternoon.

The end result was the first win of the season for the Golden Eagles in a 9-0 decision over Mobridge-Pollock in non-conference softball action.

“The girls did a really awesome job. They worked really hard,” said Central coach Cassidy Neer. “We worked towards this all week and just had really good momentum going into today, and they did exactly what they were supposed to do.”

Kaylee Kiesow recorded the win for the Golden Eagles throwing seven complete shutout innings, giving up only four hits and striking out seven. The early lead for Central allowed for Kiesow to feel more comfortable in the circle.

“It feels really good kind of having a lot of control over the game, especially since we’ve had so many games where we’re behind and you kind of have to be more careful of what you throw,” said Kiesow. “It kind of gave me some freedom to try some pitches and try different things.”

Not only did the lead give Kiesow some freedom, but her consistency with first pitch strikes allowed her to be flexible within the count. Out of the 26 batters she faced, she threw 17 first-pitch strikes.

“It gives you a lot of cushion to kind of pitch those different pitches and then also attack the zone,” Kiesow said. “It just gives you a lot of flexibility of your pitches because if you’re behind, then you’re kind of like ‘Oh now I have to throw a strike.’”

Kiesow was not only hitting the strike zone, she was hitting her spots, which was an area of focus for her going into the game.

“We talked about hitting our spots today and we were working on hitting that low spot there in the outside corner,” said Neer. “It’s no surprise that our second baseman got a lot of action today. She did exactly what she was supposed to do.”

After Kiesow struck out the side in the top of the first, the Golden Eagles put up two runs in the bottom half of the inning, kick started by Jayla Breaw. It only took one pitch for the first baseman to drive a double into left center, scoring Avery Bendewald.

“When we were warming up, we were talking a lot about my hands. My hands tend to drop so I went in there over exaggerating,” said Breaw. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna over exaggerate and I’m just gonna hit it,’ and I saw that pitch come in straight down the middle. I was just like it’s going and I hit it.”

Neer said that she knew Breaw was going to succeed today before she even stepped into the box just by her confidence walking up to the plate.

“Today she told me, she’s like ‘Coach, today’s my day,’ and I was very proud of her. She had the confidence and you can tell when someone goes up to the plate knowing they’re gonna hit versus when they’re just on defense,” said Neer. “So, it was really cool to see her go up there, come out swinging and have one of the most beautiful swings she’s had all year.”

Breaw scored the other first-inning run coming in on a bases-loaded walk.

The Golden Eagles scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to capitalizing with runners in scoring position.

“We did something we haven’t done all year, which is get runners in scoring position and then score them,” Neer said. “We didn’t leave a lot of baserunners on in big situations and there was a couple situations that would have been nice to capitalize a little bit more, but they did a beautiful job today and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Central took total control with four more runs in the fifth frame. Aliyah Torigian, Kiesow, Kylee Hoffman and Bendewald each crossed the plate for the Golden Eagles.

Kiesow singled to start the inning and took advantage of a couple of passed balls and a dropped third strike to record a run.

“It’s a big part ‘cause it puts pressure on the other team to make mistakes,” Kiesow said.

Breaw said the offensive output in the fourth and fifth innings boosted the team’s confidence.

“We really have to keep doing that. We have to just keep coming into the innings and we have to get going, because we tend to just think too much and get in our heads a lot,” said Breaw. “Once we get that confidence boost it really helps us a lot.”

Breaw, Bendewald, and Kylee Hoffman each had a pair of hits for Central. Michelle Merkel finished with two hits for Mobridge-Pollock.

After securing their first win, Central’s schedule gets tougher as the Golden Eagles travel to Sioux Falls to take on Jefferson and Lincoln on Friday, and Washington and Roosevelt on Saturday.

“Our schedule is tough moving forward. It’s gonna be really tough, but I think the girls are right where we want them to be,” Neer said. “We have good morale, they’re working hard, and our pitchers are doing an outstanding job.”

Mobridge-Pollock 000 000 0 – 0 4 4

Aberdeen Central 200 340 x – 9 9 1

Grace Overland and Amber Vetch; Kaylee Kiesow and Alivia Roettele. 2B – Mobridge-Pollock, Michelle Merkel; Aberdeen Central, Jayla Breaw.