BELOIT - The next time Dale Buvid says his Monroe softball team is better than its record indicates, it would be wise to listen.
The veteran coach said weeks ago that if everybody remained patient, good things would come from this edition of the Cheesemakers.
Boy, was he right.
Junior Becca Armstrong was untouchable for much of Friday's game and Monroe put together a six-run fourth inning to seize control en route to a 7-2 victory against Beloit Turner in a WIAA Division 2 regional championship game.
Monroe was scuffling along at 7-7 when Buvid said his team would make a run. All the Cheesemakers have done since is win 12 straight games - the most recent of those triumphs on Friday giving Monroe (19-7) its ninth regional title in 10 years.
"We certainly have some momentum," said Buvid, whose squad will face Marshall on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in a sectional semifinal game at Whitewater High School.
"Even at 7-7, we knew we were a better team than the way we were playing. We got a little confidence and all of a sudden we started hitting. Now if we make a mistake or two, we can cover it up with some offense."
That was certainly the case against Beloit Turner (23-2), whose only other loss this season came against Waterloo on May 7.
Monroe committed three errors, but some clutch hitting in the fourth more than made up for the miscues.
Senior Sarah Alexander opened the scoring with a pinch-hit RBI single and senior Alyssa Montgomery scored on a wild pitch. Sophomore Ellie Grossen followed with a run-scoring triple to center and sophomore Kayla Updike ripped a two-run single off the third baseman's glove. Updike later scored on an error to complete the barrage against Turner freshman Kelsie Packard.
"This kid really throws hard and is the real deal," Buvid said of Packard. "We beat a pretty good team and a pretty good pitcher. A lot of our kids have been in big games against really good pitching. That stuff helps."
Grossen added an RBI single in the sixth inning to push Monroe's lead to 7-0 before Turner scored twice against Armstrong in the bottom of the inning. She left the bases loaded.
Only one of the runs Armstrong allowed was earned. She gave up five hits and a walk, and had three strikeouts.
Turner mustered just one hit off Armstrong through the first five innings.
"I've seen her throw it harder, but she was certainly effective," Buvid said of his ace. "She had the ball down and until the late innings they didn't do much with her. She beat a team that's scored a lot of runs all year long."
Grossen, Updike and Montgomery each went 2-for-4.
The veteran coach said weeks ago that if everybody remained patient, good things would come from this edition of the Cheesemakers.
Boy, was he right.
Junior Becca Armstrong was untouchable for much of Friday's game and Monroe put together a six-run fourth inning to seize control en route to a 7-2 victory against Beloit Turner in a WIAA Division 2 regional championship game.
Monroe was scuffling along at 7-7 when Buvid said his team would make a run. All the Cheesemakers have done since is win 12 straight games - the most recent of those triumphs on Friday giving Monroe (19-7) its ninth regional title in 10 years.
"We certainly have some momentum," said Buvid, whose squad will face Marshall on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in a sectional semifinal game at Whitewater High School.
"Even at 7-7, we knew we were a better team than the way we were playing. We got a little confidence and all of a sudden we started hitting. Now if we make a mistake or two, we can cover it up with some offense."
That was certainly the case against Beloit Turner (23-2), whose only other loss this season came against Waterloo on May 7.
Monroe committed three errors, but some clutch hitting in the fourth more than made up for the miscues.
Senior Sarah Alexander opened the scoring with a pinch-hit RBI single and senior Alyssa Montgomery scored on a wild pitch. Sophomore Ellie Grossen followed with a run-scoring triple to center and sophomore Kayla Updike ripped a two-run single off the third baseman's glove. Updike later scored on an error to complete the barrage against Turner freshman Kelsie Packard.
"This kid really throws hard and is the real deal," Buvid said of Packard. "We beat a pretty good team and a pretty good pitcher. A lot of our kids have been in big games against really good pitching. That stuff helps."
Grossen added an RBI single in the sixth inning to push Monroe's lead to 7-0 before Turner scored twice against Armstrong in the bottom of the inning. She left the bases loaded.
Only one of the runs Armstrong allowed was earned. She gave up five hits and a walk, and had three strikeouts.
Turner mustered just one hit off Armstrong through the first five innings.
"I've seen her throw it harder, but she was certainly effective," Buvid said of his ace. "She had the ball down and until the late innings they didn't do much with her. She beat a team that's scored a lot of runs all year long."
Grossen, Updike and Montgomery each went 2-for-4.
