After an historic win over O’Gorman on Monday, Aberdeen Central was unable to duplicate the feat against top-seeded Harrisburg on Tuesday.

The Tigers exploded for 17 hits and 17 runs in a 17-0 five-inning Eastern South Dakota Conference softball win over the Golden Eagles at the Aberdeen Dome. The game was scoreless until the third inning before Harrisburg took control.

“I thought we did good job coming out, truly believing that we did have a chance to compete against them,” said Central coach Cassidy Neer. “I think that was a good job.”

Part of the reason the Tigers did not score in the first inning was because of the Central defense. The Golden Eagles executed a double play when a batter struck out and catcher Alivia Roettele threw a strike to third baseman Addison Ward to nail a runner trying to advance on the play.

“We work on that in practice quite often,” Ward said. “Once Alivia has a good throw, you can just see it come out of the hand whether it’s going to be good or not. I saw that it was going to be good. I set myself up and went for the tag and saw that we burned her, and I was like alright. This is good.”

Central’s defense was also on display in the top of the second inning. Kylee Hoffman laid out for a diving catch in left-centerfield robbing the Tigers of an extra-base hit.

“My elbows still hurt.” Hoffman said. “I got turf burn … I’m going to smile through it. It was a good play.”

Interestingly enough, Hoffman did not even see the conclusion of that play.

“I actually didn’t know I had it until everyone started freaking out,” Hoffman said, “because at the last second I closed my eyes. The impact, I didn’t want to feel it.”

The Golden Eagles weren’t finished on defense. In the third frame, left fielder Rachel Siefken gunned down a runner at the plate who was trying to score from second base on a hit. Siefken threw a perfect one-hop strike to Roettele, who applied the tag. Ward found herself in the middle of that play as the cut-off at third base.

“Again, we work on those in practice, too. I saw her throw come out, I lined up and it went over my head at like the perfect height and I was like oh, she’s actually going to get this,” Ward said. “I laid off, didn’t catch it, and turned around and Alivia was already tagging the girl, and I was like holy moly. We actually did that.”

Eventually the dam did break and Harrisburg began racking up one hit after another. Included in the barrage were three home runs, and a pair of doubles as the Tigers scored four runs in the third, eight more in the fourth, and then five runs in the fifth.

“Credit to Harrisburg,” Hoffman said. “I think their number nine hitter is probably better than our best hitter on the team. That’s just a fact. They’re ranked number one for a reason.”

Harrisburg pitcher Kylie Visker was tough to deal with in the circle, striking out 10 and allowing just one hit.

“She’s pretty good. She had good control of the game, didn’t really have to rely on her defense for a whole lot,” Neer said. “They’re a really solid team and it definitely showed today. Tip your cap to them.”

Ward was the only Central player to collect a hit in the game, a single just inside the rightfield line in her final home at-bat in her high school career.

“When she gave me that pitch, I was like I’m just going to take it and I saw it come off the bat and I’m oh, that’s not a half-bad spot,” Ward said. “Let’s hope it stays in the lines, and it did.”

It was the final home game for Central’s two seniors Hoffman and Ward.

“They both got our Spirit of the Eagle Award. Normally one girl gets it, but I could not decide between the two of them,” Neer said. “They’ve been instrumental to our program from the year before it started as soon as it was announced we were getting softball until the very last pitch of their career, and I think even beyond they’ll continue to be great advocates for our program and I couldn’t say enough good things about ‘Hof’ and Ward.”

The two seniors were leaders for a pioneer program that had never had a varsity program before.

“It’s a little bittersweet. We’ve been here for the start of it,” Hoffman said. “We’ve been through it all with everyone. I’m going to miss them for sure.”

Ward noted the progress that the Golden Eagles have made since the early days of the program, and also talked about her teammates.

“I think what I’ll miss the most is my varsity nine, those girls I’ve gotten very, very close with,” Ward said. “I don’t think I would have enjoyed it without them.”

Central concludes the regular season at Tea Area on Thursday.

Harrisburg 004 85 – 17 17 0

Aberdeen Central 000 00 – 0 1 1

Kylie Visker and Maleia Knutson; Kaylee Kiesow, Kylee Hoffman (4) and Alivia Roettele. 2B – Harrisburg, Alexis Fey, Peyton LaFramboise. HR – Brooklyn Haffey, Jayci Olson, Kennedy Kokenge.