BRODHEAD - After being unable to pitch for nine days, Brodhead ace Amanda Pickel returned to the circle and lifted her team to a regional championship with a complete game 4-0 shutout of Rock Valley South rival Parkview.
"When we played Beloit Turner last Tuesday, she pulled her quad," Brodhead coach BJ Bockhop said of Pickel. "She hasn't been able to throw or even play up until Tuesday when I let her hit. She hadn't thrown for nine days. Yesterday we had her come in at practice and she wanted to give it a shot. She threw four pitches and it started to pull again. I didn't know what to do. This morning I talked to her and she said it's my senior year, she wanted to give it a whirl. She threw a five-hitter. She was phenomenal."
Pickel, a senior, gave up five hits and one walk while striking out two.
"She's just a gamer. She gets up for big games," Bockhop said. "She's a four-year varsity player. She was in the moment. She knew it was her time. She knew she had to step up for the team."
Both teams committed four errors in the game. Parkview's Rachel Heffel gave up four runs, only two of which were earned.
"A lot of hard-hit balls tonight," Bockhop said. "They were shots that were tipping off gloves. It wasn't first-couple-games-of-the-year kind of stuff."
Brodhead had six hits as a team. Taurie Burns was 2-for-3 with two doubles for Brodhead. Taylor Douglas was also 2-for-3 at the plate for the Cards.
The Cardinals now advance to the sectional semifinal on Tuesday, where they will take on Poynette.
"Our motto at the start of the year was 'Every Pitch'. Just taking one pitch at a time," Bockhop said. "We are setting our goals as high as they can be and taking it one step at a time."
Monticello 7, Barneveld 4
BARNEVELD - In a rubber match between Six Rivers East rivals Barneveld and Monticello, the Ponies defeated the Eagles to win the regional championship.
Alyssa Kubly got things started offensively for Monticello with a two-run home run in the first inning.
"That was huge. It took a lot of pressure off our pitcher to pitch with a two-run lead," said Monticello coach Duane Garrison.
The Ponies added two more in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. The Eagles didn't go down quietly, though, as they struck for four in the third to knot things up against Monticello starter Claire Bruns.
"We had an error that led to a run," Garrison said of the third inning. "They just hit the pitcher hard that inning."
Bruns pitched two more innings before being relieved by Courtney Leuzinger, who pitched the final two innings and picked up the win.
"(Bruns) struggled a little bit (in the third). The next two innings she settled down and faced just seven in those two innings," Garrison said. "We led off the sixth with an error on the shortstop and we decided to pull (Bruns) out. We brought in Courtney. She hasn't pitched much lately, was pretty fresh. She really shut them down."
The Ponies pounded out 13 hits as a team. Clare Geitzel led the way with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Courtney Leuzinger also had a two-run homer, her second seventh-inning home run in as many games.
"We hit the ball. We've been hitting it a lot lately," Garrison said. "We had five hits in the first two innings. Our hitters are starting to come around. They're doing a heck of a job."
Garrison said it was very exciting for his team to clinch the regional championship, something that hasn't been done often in program history.
"It was an exciting win tonight for our girls," Garrison said. "It was just the second regional championship in school history for softball."
The Ponies will play in the sectional semifinal against Belmont on Tuesday.
"When we played Beloit Turner last Tuesday, she pulled her quad," Brodhead coach BJ Bockhop said of Pickel. "She hasn't been able to throw or even play up until Tuesday when I let her hit. She hadn't thrown for nine days. Yesterday we had her come in at practice and she wanted to give it a shot. She threw four pitches and it started to pull again. I didn't know what to do. This morning I talked to her and she said it's my senior year, she wanted to give it a whirl. She threw a five-hitter. She was phenomenal."
Pickel, a senior, gave up five hits and one walk while striking out two.
"She's just a gamer. She gets up for big games," Bockhop said. "She's a four-year varsity player. She was in the moment. She knew it was her time. She knew she had to step up for the team."
Both teams committed four errors in the game. Parkview's Rachel Heffel gave up four runs, only two of which were earned.
"A lot of hard-hit balls tonight," Bockhop said. "They were shots that were tipping off gloves. It wasn't first-couple-games-of-the-year kind of stuff."
Brodhead had six hits as a team. Taurie Burns was 2-for-3 with two doubles for Brodhead. Taylor Douglas was also 2-for-3 at the plate for the Cards.
The Cardinals now advance to the sectional semifinal on Tuesday, where they will take on Poynette.
"Our motto at the start of the year was 'Every Pitch'. Just taking one pitch at a time," Bockhop said. "We are setting our goals as high as they can be and taking it one step at a time."
Monticello 7, Barneveld 4
BARNEVELD - In a rubber match between Six Rivers East rivals Barneveld and Monticello, the Ponies defeated the Eagles to win the regional championship.
Alyssa Kubly got things started offensively for Monticello with a two-run home run in the first inning.
"That was huge. It took a lot of pressure off our pitcher to pitch with a two-run lead," said Monticello coach Duane Garrison.
The Ponies added two more in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. The Eagles didn't go down quietly, though, as they struck for four in the third to knot things up against Monticello starter Claire Bruns.
"We had an error that led to a run," Garrison said of the third inning. "They just hit the pitcher hard that inning."
Bruns pitched two more innings before being relieved by Courtney Leuzinger, who pitched the final two innings and picked up the win.
"(Bruns) struggled a little bit (in the third). The next two innings she settled down and faced just seven in those two innings," Garrison said. "We led off the sixth with an error on the shortstop and we decided to pull (Bruns) out. We brought in Courtney. She hasn't pitched much lately, was pretty fresh. She really shut them down."
The Ponies pounded out 13 hits as a team. Clare Geitzel led the way with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Courtney Leuzinger also had a two-run homer, her second seventh-inning home run in as many games.
"We hit the ball. We've been hitting it a lot lately," Garrison said. "We had five hits in the first two innings. Our hitters are starting to come around. They're doing a heck of a job."
Garrison said it was very exciting for his team to clinch the regional championship, something that hasn't been done often in program history.
"It was an exciting win tonight for our girls," Garrison said. "It was just the second regional championship in school history for softball."
The Ponies will play in the sectional semifinal against Belmont on Tuesday.
