MAPLE RIVER &045; The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva softball team scored in the first inning against Le Center/Cleveland, but that is all it would get in losing a tough 2A section opener, 2-1.

Gina Quiram led off the game with a single, stole second and came around to score on an error. However, that is as much as the Panthers would get as the team managed just three hits in the game.

Molly Hacker pitcher well striking out four and did not issue a walk, but Le Center was able to scrape together a pair of runs.

The first score came in thefifth when a leadoff single turned into a run with back-to-back base hits to drive it in. The eventual winning run was aided by a costly error in the seventh by the Panthers.

&8220;We made a couple of errors and had a couple mental lapses that turned out to be our downfall in this game,&8221; said NRHEG head coach Grant Berg.

Quiram finished the game going 2-for-3 while Amanda Follmuth had the team’s other hit.

The Panthers finish the season with a 13-8 overall mark and an 8-3 record in the Gopher Conference.