MADISON — In their third meeting of the season, Monroe lost to Edgewood 9-1 in the WIAA Regional Quarterfinal on Thursday, May 25.

Despite the loss, Monroe head coach Eric Losenegger was proud of his team’s performance against Badger West Pitcher of the Year Steffen Mello.

“Effort was awesome tonight,” Losenegger said. “We came out and had great at-bats. We ran his [Mello] pitch count up in the first inning. We didn’t score that inning and left bases loaded in another inning. If we do put some runs up there, you’re looking at a different game.”

Sophomore Cole Meighan, who has been batting leadoff for an injured George Brukwicki, led off the game with a seven-pitch walk. Keegan Dahmen then lined a single to center, and Meighan slide safely into third. 

“Cole Meighan transitioned into that leadoff spot. I thought he did a nice job and put together some nice at-bats over the last couple of weeks,” Losenegger said.

Edgewood’s Mello escaped the inning without giving up a run by striking out Tucker Markham, and getting Keatin Sweeney and Ethan Rosenstiel to fly out.

The Crusaders charged Cheesemakers’ starting pitcher Dahmen with three runs in the first inning. After an initial out, Edgewood tallied four straight hits, including a two-run double from Seth Myers. Leo Koenig’s sacrifice fly gave Edgewood a 3-0 lead.

Monroe responded in the top of the second, as Cam Newcomer led off with a double. Nathaniel Baker then grounded to Henry Gill at third, and Newcomer evaded Gill’s tag to put runners on first and third with no outs. Landon Stelter then lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Newcomer. 

“Cam Newcomer finished with a couple hits tonight. He really turned it around here at the end and pick it up,” Losenegger said.

Drew Indergand doubled putting two runners in scoring position, but the next two batters got out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the second, Henry Bishop drove a ball to deep right that popped in and out of Indergand’s glove. He reached third on the error and scored on a grounder from Gill. With two outs, Jacob Sheehan and Bennett Cagle tallied back-to-back singles for a 5-1 lead.

Mello found his groove in the third and fourth innings, facing one batter over the minimum with three strikeouts. Dahmen held his own, too, giving up just one run. He fielded a sacrifice bunt, caught a pop up and turned a double play. 

Edgewood scored its final two runs in the fifth on two-run double from pinch hitter Carson Jesberger and sacrifice fly from Preston Yaucher.

Newcomer led the Cheesemakers at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one run scored. The remaining three hits came from Dahmen, Sweeney and Indergand. Dahmen suffered the loss, giving up six earned runs on 11 hits. Marcus Ott threw two innings of relief, giving up one earned run on two hits. He struck out one and didn’t issue a walk. 

In the last month, Monroe has started two freshmen and two sophomores. As the season has progressed, Losenegger has seen improvements from them that will benefit the team in the coming years. The Cheesemakers graduate seven seniors.

“The cupboard’s not bare by any means,” Losenegger said. “The future is bright, and you have to be excited about that.”