Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran third baseman Ashlyn Rodewald throws to first for an out during a nonconference softball game against Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther on Friday at MVL High School.

NEW ULM — One day after picking up just one hit in a 15-0 four-inning loss at Wabasso on Thursday, Minnesota Valley Lutheran found itself on the other end of a game like that in Friday’s nonconference softball game against Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther.

Behind an 20-hit effort, the Chargers cruised past the Jaguars 20-5 in four innings at MVL High School.

The game ended in the fourth due to the 15-run lead rule.

Karlee Prahl collected the Chargers’ lone hit in the loss at Wabasso, and she was back in the hit column against the Jaguars.

As was practically every other player in the Chargers’ lineup.

Of the 12 MVL players that got a plate appearance, eight of them had at least one hit.

Leading the way for the Chargers was junior Ashlyn Rodewald, who was 3 for 3 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored.

“It was just really nice because everybody was doing their part, everybody was getting their best hits,” Rodewald said. “We’ve been struggling a bit with that, but it was really nice that everybody was just making contact and being able to hit better than they usually do.”

Cassondra Goeglein and Prahl were two other Chargers with 3-for-3 days at the plate. Goeglein also had a pair of RBIs, a double and two runs scored, while Prahl had a double, three RBIs and three runs scored.

MVL pitcher Katlyn Stadick helped her own cause with a 4-for-4 day at the plate and two runs scored, while MacKenna Dressel was 2 for 3 with two runs scored, Jessica Meunier was 2 for 4 with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored and Grace Onken was 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

“I’m really proud of the girls for hitting as strong as they were,” MVL head coach Katie Scherer said. “We’ve really focused on that because we know our pitching isn’t as strong this year, so we have to show it on the offensive side or we’re not going to be in any games. We’ve really been focusing on hitting and it showed today, not so much yesterday when we saw a tougher pitcher, but we’ve got to keep working on that because we’re going to see more tough pitchers starting next week.”

Despite being asked to step into the varsity circle as just a freshman, Stadick was solid on Friday as she allowed just two earned runs on three hits and four walks. She struck out three.

While she gave up three runs in the first inning, and saw three of her four walks occur during the inning, Stadick rebounded well and let her offense carry her the rest of he way.

“She has a lot of mental toughness,” Scherer said. “So even after walking people, she’s going to forget about it and come back to the next hitter. She can walk one person and strike out the next. She has great mental toughness and I think that’s her strong point right now. She’s got great potential if she keeps working the next four years.”

After three of those walks and a pair of errors helped GHEC/T/ML take a quick 3-0 lead, the Chargers tied it in the bottom of the inning after Dressel, Briley Henderson and Prahl started the inning with three consecutive singles. Henderson’s single scored Dressel to get the Chargers on the board before a single to center by Rodewald loaded the bases.

Goeglein then walked to scored Henderson and fielder’s choice by Sophia Dalueg scored Prahl to tie the game.

Then the Chargers exploded in the second inning for 11 hits that helped score 16 runs. The Jaguars had three errors in the inning also, which prolonged the inning even more.

Rodewald had two doubles in the inning, her first off the fence in center field that scored one and her second off the fence in left that brought home two.

“It’s really just a mental thing,” Rodewald said. “You’ve got to be able to push past whether you do bad or not. You’ve just got to move on to the next inning. Whether you get a home run, strike out, doesn’t really matter, you’ve just got to put that past you, it’s a new game no matter what.”

Prahl and Goeglein also had an RBI double each in the inning to help set the tone. Stadick had all three of her hits in the inning also and scored twice.

When the dust settled, the Chargers held a 19-3 lead after two innings.

GHEC/T/ML got a run back in both the third and fourth innings to trail 19-5, but Stadick sent a fly ball to left in the bottom of the fourth to score Meunier and end the game early.

MVL (2-1) is at Sleepy Eye for a Tomahawk Conference game on Monday.