Aberdeen Central’s speed led to an historic day at Koehler Hall of Fame Field on Thursday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles won their first ever home softball games with an 8-4 and 11-6 sweep over Mobridge-Pollock.

The setbacks were just the second and third of the season for the Class A Tigers.

“When we went over our scouting reports Tuesday with the girls, we talked a lot about that,” said Central coach Cassidy Neer. “It doesn’t matter what class you’re in, you’ve still got to come out and play, and play competitively and have that little bit of swag in you.”

It became obvious from Central’s first at-bats that the Golden Eagles were going to be aggressive on the basepaths. The hosts stole 10 bases in the opening contest.

“Their top two players (Kylee Hoffman and Avery Bendewald), really put pressure, especially that lefty (Bendewald),” said Mobridge-Pollock coach Andrew Overland.

Bendewald laid down a pair of bunts up the third baseline during the twinbill, one that started a rally and another that produced a run. The Tigers brought their third baseman in, but Bendewald still got on board.

“She still was able to dink that sucker and with her speed, we couldn’t move in far enough to stop them,” Overland said.

Bendewald, who also beat out an infield hit that drove in a run, has been working hard at placing the ball up the third-base line ever since she switched to the left side of the plate after last season.

“I just started batting lefthanded this year, so it’s really new to me,” Bendewald said, “and I was really happy to get two hits on the left side.”

Bendewald has become unpredictable as a hitter, which keeps opposing defenses on their toes.

“She definitely makes the defense uneasy. They don’t know what to expect from her. She’s starting to become really resourceful too at the plate,” Neer said. “No one really knows what to expect off the bat. If she gets the ball down, she is getting to first base.”

Just putting the ball in play and letting her speed do the rest is something that Neer has encouraged Bendewald to do.

“That’s kind of what we’ve been telling her,” Neer said. “Stay confident, do all these things, because if you get the ball down, you will get to first base. No one is going to be fast enough to get the ball over there.”

Bendewald’s bunt helped to spark a four-run first inning in the opener. Addison Ward capped off the uprising with an RBI triple.

The Golden Eagles added two more runs in the second on a sacrifice bunt from Bendewald and sac fly from Jayla Breaw. Central extended the margin in the third on a triple by Hoffman.

The Tigers kept things close, thanks in part to a two-run triple from Sophia Overland.

Mobridge-Pollock jumped in front in the second game and led 6-3 after three runs scored on an inside-the-park home run from Overland. However, the Golden eagles stormed back with six runs in the bottom of the third to take control.

Again, Bendewald started the surge with a walk, which was followed by a double from Ayrlie Waldo, a hit batter, a double by Addyson Keller, a single from Reese Comstock, a sac fly from Ward, and singles by Alyia Torigian, Hoffman and Bendewald.

“The confidence is really there,” Bendewald said. “I think we’re just starting to figure out that we can win and that we have it in us. We just have to believe in ourselves.”

Bendewald was also a force in the field, collecting seven putouts in the two victories.

“She’s eating it up. She did an absolutely outstanding job,” Neer said. “We’ve talked about if we bobble the ball we’re no longer getting that lead runner, we’re going to one, and she did that in the bottom of the fifth today.”

The Tigers are similar to Central in that they are making giant strides in their second year as a program.

“We’ve been playing slowpitch since we were in second grade. We’ve never really had the fastpitch scene around our area and we finally got it going last year,” Sophia Overland said. “It’s just a really exciting game and it’s a new game. We want to win so we are willing to work hard, all the girls on our team, so we show up to practice every day with the drive to win. From last year to this year, improvement has been amazing.”

Despite the rare setbacks, Coach Overland was pleased for the opportunity that presented itself on Thursday.

“We had a little nerves today to come to a really nice field like this. They’re not used to this type of atmosphere, based on what we’ve been playing, but we really needed to play some good competition,” he said. “We were really happy to see some good pitching and have to make some plays on defense.”

The Tigers, who’s only previous loss was to defending North Dakota champion Beulah, benefitted from playing up a class against Central.

“I would rather lose to a good team than go and 15-run an A school in three innings,” Sophia Overland said, “because we don’t get that experience.”

Central now has three wins on the season after going winless a year ago. Bendewald said the Eagles have put in a lot of work to improve and are being rewarded for that effort.

“I just think we’ve been grinding it out at practice a lot,” Bendewald said. “I just think we’ve been really putting in the work and we deserve to win. We deserve to.”

The Golden Eagles play host to Rapid City Stevens at 4 this afternoon and Sturgis at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“We’re going to keep the momentum going and we’re home the next two days,” Neer said. “You can’t really beat that.”

Mobridge-Pollock 011 20 – 4 7 3

Aberdeen Central 422 0x – 8 11 2

Grace Overland and Amber Vetch; Kaylee Kiesow and Reese Comstock. 3B – Mobridge-Pollock, Sophia Overland; Aberdeen Central, Addison Ward, Kylee Hoffman.

Mobridge-Pollock 141 00 – 6 5 3

Aberdeen Central 216 2x – 11 10 3

Grace Overland and Amber Vetch; Kylee Hoffman and Reese Comstock. 2B – Mobridge-Pollock, Vetch; Aberdeen Central, Addyson Keller, Ayrlie Waldo. 3B – Mobridge-Pollock, Jacy Netterville. HR – Mobridge-Pollock, Sophia Overland.