SUPERIOR, Wis. – For the first time in nearly a calendar year, the Yellowjacket softball team was able to play at home.

To find the last time the Yellowjackets were on their home turf, you have to go back to April 30, 2024. On that day, the Yellowjackets rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to slip past Northwestern. On this day, however, there was much less drama, as the Yellowjackets stayed unbeaten in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).
 
Scoring six times in each of the first two innings, the Yellowjackets built an insurmountable lead to cruise past North Central 17-3 on a beautiful Friday afternoon at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
 
The win, which is the 11th in the last 12 games for the Yellowjackets, improves their overall mark to 20-5 on the season to go along with a 7-0 record in UMAC play.
 
Abby Mitchell (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) got the start in the circle for the Yellowjackets, pitching four innings to improve to 2-1 on the year. Mitchell struck out the side in the first and finished with six punchouts. At the plate, Lily Hanson (Cloquet, Minn./Esko) was the big dog that got the scoring starting, launching a home run in the top of the first inning, her first of the season. She was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs driven in.  
 
Game Notes

• Peyton Bennett (Harrisburg, S.D./Harrisburg) led off the first with a triple and came in on Hanson's home run to left center.
• MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) brought a run home on a bunt single, then stole two bases before scoring on an error.
• Two more runs came across on an error by the North Central right fielder.
• After North Central plated two in the top of the second, Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) hit a long home run to center field in the bottom of the inning, her first of the year, bringing home Hanson to extend the lead to 8-2.
• For the second inning in a row Leccia stole a pair of bases and came in on an error.
• Carly Stuckmayer (Delano, Minn./Delano) brought home a run, scoring Megan Witt (Burnsville, Minn./Eagan) on a bunt single.
• Later in the second, Norah Schmitz (Carver County, Minn./Waconia) and Bennett brought in runs with singles.
• Leccia got the scoring started in the bottom of the third, doubling in a pair of runs to make it 14-2.
• Schmitz later singled through the right side, scoring two more runs.
• Mackenzie Bird (Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie) scored the final run for the Yellowjackets, coming in on an error in the bottom of the fourth before North Central scored in the top of the fifth to make the final margin 17-3.
• The Yellowjackets had 15 hits, led by Leccia and Stuckmayer who had three each.
• Five Yellowjackets had multi-hit games.
• Leccia finished with four stolen bases, while Stuckmayer had three.
• Georgia Youngblood (Ray, Mich./Lutheran North) pitched the fifth, allowing one run on one hit.

The Yellowjackets and North Central will close out their weekend series with a doubleheader Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for noon at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
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