Throughout Wednesday’s game, Stillwater senior shortstop Alexis Monty yelled out one word to hear teammates while they were up at the plate—trust.

“I just wanted to remind them to trust themselves,” Monty said. “It’s so easy for us to get in our heads and have doubts. I just want them to know they can do it.”

Monty and her teammates looked like they had plenty of trust in themselves on Wednesday. Stillwater put together an offensive output that included 14 runs and 16 hits as the Ponies rolled past Suburban East Conference rival Park of Cottage Grove, 14-6. 

Stillwater coach Angie Ryan said after Wednesday’s game without even being asked that Monty is the leader of this Ponies squad.

“Monty is the real deal,” Ryan said. “She leads our team. She fights and battles.”

Monty’s leadership skills can be seen and heard when watching the Ponies in the dugout and out on the field. She is quick to congratulate a teammate on a success and is quick to come over and talk to a teammate after a tough play.

“I just know it’s my role as a senior,” Monty said. “I want the girls to not be in their head and have fun because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing out here.”

But Monty doesn’t just talk. She shows up for her team on the field. On defense, she captains the infield at shortstop. At the plate, she’s the catalyst as the team’s leadoff hitter. The top four hitters in the Stillwater order delivered in big ways on Thursday. It started in the first inning with Addie Coffey, the No. 3 hitter and Sarah Dollerschell, the No. 4 hitter, reached and came around to score on an infield single in the first inning. They put on display Ryan’s desire for aggressive baserunning. Coffey finished the day 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

“That excellent baserunning helped us,” Ryan said. “I’ve always coached that way. Baserunning matters.”

The offensive just kept going for Stillwater. Following a scoreless second inning, Stillwater responded with 11 runs in the next three innings. Monty delivered the first big blow of that stretch with a two-run homerun. The ball came flying off Monty’s bat but just barely cleared the fence. The Concordia-St. Paul commit finished the day going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and four runs scored.

“I wasn’t quite sure it was going to make it,” Ryan said. “It just kept rising and found itself out of the park.”

Despite the Ponies’ continuous scoring, the Wolfpack did not let down. They tied the game at two in the first inning and cut the lead down to two runs in the fourth inning. 

Following a three-run fourth inning, Stillwater delivered a death punch when Dollerschell came to the plate and smacked a grand slam. The Pony cleanup hitter finished the game 4-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs.

“It was absolutely amazing,” Monty said. “I loved being able to trust the girls around me to hit and keep things going.”

If not for Stillwater’s eye-popping 14-run performance, Park’s six-run, 10-hit day is nothing to be sorry about. The good news for the Wolfpack is that they get another shot at Stillwater in exactly seven days. Ryan expects the rival Wolfpack to be ready. Following the game, Park players were already back on the diamond taking infield.

“If we want to go win our conference, we have to go through them,” Ryan said. “(Park coach Bob Loshek) and I have coached against each other for almost 20 years. I know they’ll come out and be ready.”

Stillwater broke out the bats on Wednesday for 14 runs on 16 hits as the Ponies outslugged conference rival Park of Cottage Grove 14-6.

The Ponies (14-1, 13-1) opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the first inning. Lily Grundner got things going with an infield single that scored two runs, including junior Addie Coffey. She reached base three times on Thursday and scored all three times.

The Wolfpack (12-4, 11-3) got those runs back immediately in the bottom of the first. Edie Walton got Park on the board with an RBI double. She went 2-for-3 in the game with a run scored.

That 2-2 deadlock lasted only an inning as Stillwater tallied 12 runs over the game’s final five innings. Pony senior shortstop Alexis Monty was a major player in that offensive outburst. She finished the day 3-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBIs. 

Monty’s teammate, designated player Sarah Dollerschell put the exclamation point on things in the fifth inning with a grand slam. She finished the game going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs.

Park did get back within two runs in the fourth inning but could not cut into the lead any further. Stillwater pitcher Anna Corbid earned the win with a complete-game performance. She allowed six runs on 10 hits and three walks while striking out three.

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