ALBANY — Black Hawk wanted to get back into the conference race, and with just two weeks left in the season the Warriors did just that. Hannah Butler threw a 3-hit shutout as Black Hawk knocked off Juda-Albany 4-0 May 6 in a game moved out of South Wayne due to field conditions.

“It’s looking for a possible three-way tie for conference, and we knew that we needed this win — and we needed this win bad,” Black Hawk coach Curt Leuzinger said. “Seeding-wise, I don’t think this will make too much of a difference.”

Juda-Albany entered the game one back from Argyle at the top of the Six Rivers East standings, while Black Hawk was three back.

Both Butler and Juda-Albany pitcher Emily Makos were on their game at the pitching rubber. Makos sat down six of the first seven batters she faced, and left the lone baserunner — who reached on an error — stranded on the bases. Butler gave up a double in the top of the first and walked a batter in the second. Just two other hitters reached the rest of the night on the all-conference junior.

“Hannah hit her spots. If you hit your spots and let your defense do the work, you should come out on top,” Leuzinger said.

Butler finished with five strikeouts, three hits and a walk in seven innings.

Makos struck out four and walked one, but Black Hawk took advantage of mistakes — both on the mound and in the field.

“She throws very well for us and puts us in a position to win,” Juda-Albany coach Bill Davis said. “We know that to this point we are a team that hasn’t scored a bunch of runs. We have to figure out a way to score runs. They scored four runs, and that’s a game that you should have an opportunity to win and we were just unable to do that.”

Kaylee Marty led off the bottom of the third with a bunt single and stood at second with one out when the top of the order came up. Bailey Butler drove in Marty with a single and Natalie Leuzinger followed with a double to put two ducks on the pond. Hannah Butler then walked to load the bases. A wild pitch brought in the second run, but Makos was able to bury away Mia Jackson with a strikeout and Kaitlyn Fey with a groundout to end the threat.

“We put the ball in play and made the defense make the plays,” Leuzinger said.

Two innings later, Black Hawk added to its lead. No. 9-hitter Alyssa Lange led off with a single to open the fifth and Bailey Butler doubled. Leuzinger then sent a fly to center that was dropped. Jackson brought in a run on a sacrifice fly to center.

“They did what they had to do to manufacture some runs. Offensively, for what Black Hawk did, you really can’t ask for much more. They took advantage of a couple of baserunners — the bottom of the order got on for the top of the order, and their top three hitters are good,” Davis said.

Black Hawk (8-5, 6-5) has spent time ranked this season in the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association poll. The Warriors five losses include a one-run losses to Juda-Albany (9-10, 7-4) on April 9 and ninth-ranked Argyle (14-4, 8-2) April 15. Top-ranked Belmont (16-0) beat Black Hawk 1-0 April 15, and River Ridge (10-10) and Potosi (10-9) of the Six Rivers West won by three and four runs, respectfully. The Warriors were scheduled to play fourth-ranked Highland (15-1) May 9.

“We can compete with anybody. Juda is a good team and we can hang with the best of them. I still always look at that Belmont game with us only losing by one — I think they can hang with whoever they play. This one was a confidence builder for Highland and Saturday (May 11) against Argyle,” coach Leuzinger said.

Juda-Albany has rebounded since a rough start to the season. Makos spent the first couple of weeks recovering from an injury, and the Panthers lost five of their first six games, but have gone 8-5 since, with losses to Belmont and Highland and a statement win over Argyle April 29.

The Panthers went 1-1 at the Poynette Jamboree May 3, losing to Columbus 9-0 and beating Bonduel 12-6.

“We played very well, especially that second game,” Davis said of the Jamboree. “The first game against Columbus, they had one big inning. In that second inning they scored six runs, otherwise we pretty much shut them down. But they were hitting the ball that inning, there weren’t a lot of errors.”

On May 7, the Panthers topped Barneveld 5-0 for another conference win. With the season winding down and playoffs around the corner, Davis said this is the time of the year his players need to start figuring out how to win.

“We’re coming along, but we’re getting to the end of it so it’s time to start putting things together,” Davis said. “We’re getting to the point (in the season) where you’re trying to win every pitch. That’s really what it comes down to.”

Black Hawk 17, Pecatonica 0

BLANCHARDVILLE — One day after picking up a solid victory on the Panthers, the Warriors took advantage of nine Vikings errors to score another conference win.

Bailey Butler finished 4 for 5 with four runs and three steals, while Natalie Leuzinger was 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs and three RBIs. Hannah Butler had three hits, including a triple, a walk and two RBIs, while Fey had two hits and Savanna Burmeister finished with three hits, three runs and two RBIs.

Bailey Butler got the win on the mound, tossing five shutout innings and allowing three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.

Lexi McSherry was charged with the loss, allowing two runs on four hits and four walks in 1.1 innings of work. Tessa Green came on in relief and allowed 15 runs — just five earned — on 104 pitches. Green gave up 13 hits and three walks, striking out two. Green also doubled.

Black Hawk led 2-0 after two innings, but erupted for six runs in the third, three in the fourth and six more in the fifth to put the game away.