SPRING GREEN — Brodhead and ace pitcher Ava Risum needed just one run of support in a WIAA Division 3 sectional final game May 30, as Risum struck out 17 of the 25 batters faced en route to an 8-0 win over Adams-Friendship. With the victory, the Cardinals punched their second straight ticket to the state tournament.
“Once we started getting those runs, I felt even more competitive. I just wanted to strike all the girls out,” Risum said. “Knowing that I have that cushion in case something does happen really helps.”
Entering the affair, 5-seed Adams-Friendship (15-10, 8-2 South Central) was on a three-game winning streak. The Green Devils had knocked off the top two seeds in their regional in Prairie du Chien, 4-3, and River Valley, 5-2. But top-seeded Brodhead (19-4, 14-1 Rock Valley-Rock) was not fazed. In fact, the Cardinals were up for the challenge.
“We all came in wanting to show them what a real team is,” senior shortstop Sophia Leitzen said. “Their confidence was up — good for them — but we were coming in like this is what it’s actually like to play somebody who can take care of business. We came out with a little bit of attitude and showed them how it’s done.”
We all came in wanting to show them what a real team is. Their confidence was up — good for them — but we were coming in like this is what it’s actually like to play somebody who can take care of business. We came out with a little bit of attitude and showed them how it’s done.Sophia Leitzen, Brodhead senior shortstop
Risum set the tone early, striking out the side in the first on a change-up and riseball. She retired the side again in the second after giving up a lead-off 3-2 double that rolled to the fence.
While Risum jumped out of the gate in the circle, it took the Cardinal a few innings to wake up in the box. Brodhead sent four batters to the plate in the first and got a gift in the second. Allie Dahl led off with a four-pitch walk, and Jerrica Schwartz moved her over with a sacrifice bunt. Riley Weaver got a strikeout and should have been out of the inning with Keegan Steinke’s fly ball to center, but the ball popped in and out of the fielder’s glove. Dahl, who was running on two outs, scored from second.
Risum picked up in the third where she left off in the second with her seventh “K” of the game. Morgan Pare then popped up in the direction of third baseman Leah Rear. At first, Rear took a step back anticipating the ball to travel further and had to dive to make the catch. It was the first out for Adams-Friendship that wasn’t a strikeout.
“The infield is full of really good girls, and I have to play up to that. I can’t be nervous or anything,” Rear said. “I didn’t realize it was up at first, so I took a step backward. Then I realized it was up so I threw myself at the floor like volleyball.”
Risum finished the inning with yet another strikeout.
With the top of the order up in the third, Brodhead got lucky again. Leitzen and Jaelyn Hilliard reached on back-to-back errors by shortstop Makenna Kirsenlohr. Risum struck out, but Leitzen came around to score on an unassisted putout by the first baseman. Jillian Roennenburg turned and stepped on first without checking Leitzen on third and could have prevented the run from scoring.
Brodhead’s defense saw more action in the fourth, as Leitzen played a hop perfectly for an assist and Dahl flipped to Tatum Ceslok at first for the second out. Risum gave up a single despite being up in the count 0-2 but responded with a strikeout. She sat down the Green Devils 1-2-3 in the fifth, putting the bats back in her teammates’ hands.
Now in their third time through the order, Brodhead began to figure out Weaver. Leitzen singled to left on the second pitch of her at bat, and Hilliard drove her in with a double slapped into the left center gap. After a pop out, Rear executed a suicide squeeze perfectly, scoring Hilliard.
Schwartz fouled off five pitches before drawing a two-out walk. Dahl scored on a passed ball and pinch runner Karli Krumwiede scampered home on a dropped pop up by the second baseman. Tessa Kloepping then cleared the bases with a two-RBI single.
In her second at bat of the inning, Leitzen drew a four-pitch walk. Weaver finally escaped the inning, striking out Hilliard. In the bottom of the fifth alone, Brodhead sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs on three hits with two errors.
“She had a weird spin — a gyro spin that you just don’t see. Whenever you do something unorthodox, it’s hard to simulate in practice,” Brodhead head coach Steve Krupke said of Weaver, explaining why his team struggled to score early. “We started getting to her second and third time around, which is what I expected.”
The Green Devils had their most success in the sixth with back-to-back two-out singles, but the inning ended with an unassisted putout for Krumwiede, who was subbed in at first after the six-run inning.
Weaver retired Brodhead 1-2-3 in the sixth, but Risum one-upped her in the seventh, striking out the side for the fourth time in the game. Following the final pitch, Risum and Schwartz met in the middle for a hug, just as they did in the same spot nearly 365 days prior.
Risum finished the game with 17 strikeouts and no walks. Routinely throughout the game, the Green Devils struggled to make contact, let alone put the ball in play. They tallied just four hits in 25 at bats, putting the ball in play just eight times.
At the plate, Hilliard went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Kloepping and Rear drove in two runs each, while Dahl walked and scored twice.
