BRODHEAD - Who needs 30 days of exhibition baseball? If Thursday's home opener were any indication of where the Brodhead softball team stands this season, the Rock Valley South - and entire state - better be on the lookout.
The Cardinals rolled to a 9-0 non-conference win over Belleville because of both the team's hard-hitting offense and by the pitching of senior Erika Stampfli.
Stampfli struck out 17 of a possible 21 batters with just two walks and a 2-out single in the top of the seventh. The dribbler up the middle by Belleville's Erin Watkins kept Stampfli from the elusive opening-day no-hitter.
"The way Erika threw doesn't surprise me a bit - usually pitchers are ahead of hitters at this point in time during in the year," Brodhead coach Steve Krupke said. "As far as seeing live pitching and hitting the way we did, I was happy with it."
Stampfli dominated from the start, striking out 10 of the first 11 hitters she faced.
"It makes me upset a little bit," Stampfli said about losing the no-hitter. She also said she felt good on the mound and knew how well she was pounding the strike zone.
Belleville didn't put multiple balls in play until the fifth inning, when two batters sent balls right at first baseman Mariah Mohns for unassisted outs.
Mohns was also big at the plate, finishing 2 for 2 with a walk, sacrifice bunt, three RBIs and a stolen base. Mohns could have ended the game in the sixth with an inside-the-park home run, but Krupke held his senior at third to avoid an injury or 10-run rule win.
"The coaches from Belleville are some of my best friends in my whole life and I wanted to make sure they had everything covered that they wanted. If we're going to beat them, I'm not going to want to do it on a close play at home and have Mariah sprain her ankle or something like that," Krupke said. "I also dressed 16 kids tonight and wanted to get some other kids into the game. So there were a few things going through my head, and I didn't want to go and show anybody up just to get out of here early."
Belleville was a quick addition to the schedule for Brodhead, which originally had Juda as its opponent. But the unexpected death of a sibling of a Juda player had the scheduled revamped, and Belleville came to town instead. The game against Juda has been postponed to May 24.
"The thing that happened in Juda, I really feel for the team and what they are going to go through," Krupke said. "But you're not going to find a more beautiful day in March than today, and I knew the forecast looked good. So I called Jon (Benash, Belleville's coach) and said, 'Let's just play. What does it hurt?' The way I see it is this is better than any practice you could have."
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and extended the advantage to 3-0 in the third. Brodhead entered the bottom of the sixth ahead 5-0 - but a four-run sixth all but put the game away.
Mohns wasn't the only Cardinal to bring a big stick to work. Amanda Pickel and Shi Strommen also hit triples and Tia Collins (three runs) and Taylor Douglas (two runs) also showed promise for Brodhead.
"(I) feel a lot safer when I'm not doing so well hitting and the everyone else picks me up," Stampfli said. "I think we as a team are feeling really good."
Even though Stampfli wasn't on her game at the plate (0 for 3), Krupke said he was glad with how well she composed herself on the mound.
"I was happy the way Erika responded. She takes a lot of pride in her hitting and without having many hits, I was happy that she was able to go back out and re-focus," Krupke said. "When she gave up that hit in the seventh - I know no-hitters mean a lot to her - She re-focused. That was nice."
The Cardinals get back to work on Tuesday when they will travel to McFarland.
The Cardinals rolled to a 9-0 non-conference win over Belleville because of both the team's hard-hitting offense and by the pitching of senior Erika Stampfli.
Stampfli struck out 17 of a possible 21 batters with just two walks and a 2-out single in the top of the seventh. The dribbler up the middle by Belleville's Erin Watkins kept Stampfli from the elusive opening-day no-hitter.
"The way Erika threw doesn't surprise me a bit - usually pitchers are ahead of hitters at this point in time during in the year," Brodhead coach Steve Krupke said. "As far as seeing live pitching and hitting the way we did, I was happy with it."
Stampfli dominated from the start, striking out 10 of the first 11 hitters she faced.
"It makes me upset a little bit," Stampfli said about losing the no-hitter. She also said she felt good on the mound and knew how well she was pounding the strike zone.
Belleville didn't put multiple balls in play until the fifth inning, when two batters sent balls right at first baseman Mariah Mohns for unassisted outs.
Mohns was also big at the plate, finishing 2 for 2 with a walk, sacrifice bunt, three RBIs and a stolen base. Mohns could have ended the game in the sixth with an inside-the-park home run, but Krupke held his senior at third to avoid an injury or 10-run rule win.
"The coaches from Belleville are some of my best friends in my whole life and I wanted to make sure they had everything covered that they wanted. If we're going to beat them, I'm not going to want to do it on a close play at home and have Mariah sprain her ankle or something like that," Krupke said. "I also dressed 16 kids tonight and wanted to get some other kids into the game. So there were a few things going through my head, and I didn't want to go and show anybody up just to get out of here early."
Belleville was a quick addition to the schedule for Brodhead, which originally had Juda as its opponent. But the unexpected death of a sibling of a Juda player had the scheduled revamped, and Belleville came to town instead. The game against Juda has been postponed to May 24.
"The thing that happened in Juda, I really feel for the team and what they are going to go through," Krupke said. "But you're not going to find a more beautiful day in March than today, and I knew the forecast looked good. So I called Jon (Benash, Belleville's coach) and said, 'Let's just play. What does it hurt?' The way I see it is this is better than any practice you could have."
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and extended the advantage to 3-0 in the third. Brodhead entered the bottom of the sixth ahead 5-0 - but a four-run sixth all but put the game away.
Mohns wasn't the only Cardinal to bring a big stick to work. Amanda Pickel and Shi Strommen also hit triples and Tia Collins (three runs) and Taylor Douglas (two runs) also showed promise for Brodhead.
"(I) feel a lot safer when I'm not doing so well hitting and the everyone else picks me up," Stampfli said. "I think we as a team are feeling really good."
Even though Stampfli wasn't on her game at the plate (0 for 3), Krupke said he was glad with how well she composed herself on the mound.
"I was happy the way Erika responded. She takes a lot of pride in her hitting and without having many hits, I was happy that she was able to go back out and re-focus," Krupke said. "When she gave up that hit in the seventh - I know no-hitters mean a lot to her - She re-focused. That was nice."
The Cardinals get back to work on Tuesday when they will travel to McFarland.
