Apr. 24—WILLMAR — When it was mentioned to Nevaeh Rahm that
"I didn't even know there was a Ridgewater," Rahm admitted.
Since enrolling, the agri-business major has emerged as one of the main reasons Ridgewater is headed to its second straight Region 13 Tournament. The Warriors play a best-of-three series beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. A third game, if needed, will be noon Sunday.
Ridgewater is 8-12 and the No. 3 seed from the Minnesota College Athletic Conference South Division. CLC is the top seed in the MCAC North. The top three from the South and North divisions advance to Region 13 and play first-round best-of-three series.
The top four teams from this weekend's series playoffs advance to the Super Regional which begins Friday, May 1. The host will be the winner of St. Cloud Technical & Community College, the South's top seed, and Rainy River, the North's No. 3 seed. Rainy River is in International Falls.
Rahm, a hard-throwing right-hander from Fairmont, has pitched the vast majority of the Warriors' innings the past two seasons and is currently batting fourth in the lineup. She's the only sophomore on the team. She has pitched 94-2/3 innings with 131 strikeouts and 69 walks. The Warriors have pitched 109-2/3 innings this season, meaning Rahm has pitched 86.35% of the team's innings.
"You can't win, obviously, with just pitching," Rahm said. "Everybody is hitting, putting the ball in play, letting them (opponents) make mistakes. And that feels really good."
She's also Ridgewater's leading hitter. She's batting .353 with a .450 on-base and .667 slugging percentage. In 20 games, she has hit eight doubles, a triple, two home runs and drove in 14 runs.
Pitching, of course, is something she enjoys. But the Warriors don't have many options if she's not up to the task. Aly Wendlandt and Madison Norsten have thrown here and there to give her a break.
"Sometimes it's not my favorite," Rahm said of the heavy workload. "Obviously, this week was really hard, having games back-to-back-to-back. But I just have to push. ...
"Mentally, you have to be strong. Sometimes, it is hard. But you just have to tell yourself that you're better than that."
It hasn't always gone well. But, Rahm said she has good support.
"My teammates pick me up when it (a tough game) does happen, which is nice," Rahm said.
CLC went 15-1 in the MCAC North are is 23-19 overall. The Raiders beat Ridgewater 11-3 in the Warriors' season-opener March 27 in Rochester.
"We stuck with them and then we just kind of lost it," Rahm said.
The Raiders led 4-3 through three innings, but scored two in the fourth and five in the fifth to end it early.
"It was our first game and we did stick with them," Ridgewater head coach Jordyn Swoboda said. "But they had played a bunch of games before ours."
CLC played its first game Feb. 7 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, almost seven weeks before the Warriors' first game. The Raiders had a 10-11 record when they played Ridgewater in Rochester and had also played in Blaine and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The Warriors look forward to playing CLC again. For Rahm, being competitive is her nature. She also played on the women's basketball team her first year at Ridgewater. She's happy with the decision to come to Willmar.
"My boyfriend's from up here and he told me about Ridgewater," Rahm said. "I was a three-sport athlete in high school and I wanted to continue. And they asked me (to play basketball) and it's hard to say no."