Area softball teams getting wins anyway they can
It's just one game but it's an important one for Augusta.
The Beavers are 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the Large Dairyland Conference. Today, Thursday, April 30, the Beavers, ranked No. 4 in the state in Division 4, faced equally 9-1 and ranked No. 9 Melrose-Mindoro at Mel-Min. beginning at 5 p.m. A win would give AHS almost a hammerlock on the Large Division title with a month still to go in the season and with wins over the top teams in the league behind them.
That's one sign of a championship team. The other is being able to pull out wins when it seems the odds are stacked against them.
Against the same Mustang ballclub last week Tuesday, April 21, the Beavers plated three runs with two outs to tie what was a 6-3 score heading in. Augusta then scored the winning run in their last at bats in the eighth.
Cecelia Schroeder led the way for Augusta at the plate with four hits, two runs scored and two doubles. The Beavers added up 12 hits as a team with Brooklyn Krueger going 2-for-3 and Laney O’Brien and Rachel West both hitting doubles. O’Brien started in the circle, striking out 12, and Krueger came in to pitch two innings in relief. Then on Friday, April 24, AHS blanked Alma/Pepin at Alma 13-0. The Beavers racked up 15 hits led by O’Brien first career home run. She batted 3-for-4. Krueger struck out 11 in the five inning game and also went 3-for-4 at the plate. Sophie Bergman and Rachel West both had two hits.
Augusta edged out Colfax 9-8 in a non-conference contest on Tuesday, April 28 at home. It was another walk-off win for the Beavers in the seventh after scoring four runs in the sixth to tie the score. O’Brien and Krueger combined for 14 strikeouts and the offense combined for 11 hits, including Rilee Bethke's first home run of the season, which came in the sixth inning. She batted 2-for-3 for the afternoon ballgame as did Stella Zank, West, Krueger, Bethke, Schroeder, and Faith Bergman. Games against Colfax show an upgraded non-conference schedule for the Beavers as they take on Black River Falls, Chippewa Falls McDonell, No. 3 ranked Grantsburg, Cadott and No. 9 ranked Stanley-Boyd in the month of May as well as their Dairyland schedule, which continues on Monday, May 4 in Eau Claire against Immanuel under the lights at Gelein Field starting at 7:30 p.m.
Eleva-Strum is trying to get back and over the .500 mark after an 0-4 start with games this week at home vs. Independence/Gilmanton on Thursday, April 30 and at Augusta on Friday, May 1, both at 5 p.m. The Cardinals put themselves into this position with a three-game winning streak over the past week (April 21-28). First E-S got its much needed first win in an eight-inning contest at home vs. Osseo-Fairchild 2-1 on Tuesday, April 21. Winning pitcher Ruby Bartholomew struck out 16 in a one-hit performance and leading the Cardinal at the plate was Josie Iverson with two doubles, and an RBI. E-S played again on Friday, April 24 and won a 5-3 decision over Cochrane-Fountain City at home. Bartholomew not only struck out 17 while scattering four hits but she also led Central at the plate with three hits, a double and an RBI. Eleva-Strum picked up its third straight win on Tuesday, April 28 at Lincoln by a 15-4 margin in five innings. The Cards led 11-0 after the first two and a half innings. Mariah Steffenson had three hits and five RBIs for E-S at bat and both Bartholomew and Sadie Norby scored three times each. Bartholomew and Maddea Brown both had two hits each with Bartholomew hitting a double. She also struck out eight to get the win.
Although O-F lost at Eleva-Strum last week they quickly bounced back to rout Lincoln at home Friday, April 24 by a 15-2 margin in five innings which saw them lead 13-0 after three innings of play. Addison Dunahay was the team's top hitter with two and she hit a triple and also the team's top run-scorer with three.. Top RBI leaders for the Thunder were Lyla Becker and Delaney Yokiel with three each. Becker, a freshman, was the winning pitcher with six strikeouts. Over the weekend, O-F split their games at the Luther Invitational in Onalaska. The Thunder beat the host Knights but lost to La Crosse Aquinas in the championship game. Osseo-Fairchild lost on Tuesday, April 28 to Alma/Pepin at Alma 5-4 as the Eagles scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Both Becker and Emma Lyngen had two hits to lead the Thunder, now 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the Large Dairyland. Both Becker and Avery James hit doubles and Becker drove in two runs. O-F plays at Cochrane-Fountain City in Thursday, April 30 and is at Whitehall the next day before playing Eleva-Strum again on Monday, May 4 at Stoddard Park.
Fall Creek's up and down season continued over the past week. The Crickets, 4-8 overall, lost a non-conference game vs. No. 10 ranked Arcadia at home on Friday, April 24 by a 15-4 score and they were beaten by Western Cloverbelt Conference leader Chippewa Falls McDonell by a 6-1 score, also at home Tuesday, April 28. However, FC is still above .500 in league play at 4-3 thanks to big wins last week over Eau Claire Regis 15-2 on April 21 and Thorp[ 20-7 on April 23 both in five innings. FC is on the road for their next few ballgames, at Elk Mound on Thursday, April 30, at Altoona on Friday, May 1 and a doubleheader Tuesday, April 5 at Cadott.
