MADISON — With an 8-3 win over Madison Edgewood May 14, the Cheesemakers won the Badger South softball title outright. And the Cheesemakers did it with flair.
Olivia Bobak went 3 for 4 at the plate with a home run, two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Katie Hayes hit two homers for Monroe, driving in three runs in the process, and Sarah Prien and Sydney Updike also went deep for the Cheesemakers. Prien, Updike and Hayes finished with two hits, while Alyse Maurer was 3 for 4 with a double.
Monroe kicked off the scoring in the first when Updike and Bobak hit back-to-back doubles. Hayes led off the top of the second with a home run to left, and three batters later Prien homered to center.
Leading 3-0 in the top of the fifth, Updike hit a 2-run shot to left and Bobak made it back-to-back jacks with a bomb to right on the very next pitch. The Cheesemakers sent seven pitchers to the plate in the inning and saw just eight pitches — with Prien taking a ball before grounding out to short to lead off the inning.
Edgewood scored its only runs in the bottom of the sixth on a 3-run home run by Madison Moore. Hayes responded with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh.
Bobak struck out 11, walked one and gave up just four hits on the mound for Monroe.
Monroe 2, Oregon 1
OREGON — The Cheesemakers edged Oregon May 13 to set up their conference championship.
Monroe scored a run in the first when Sydney Updike drove in Hailey Betthauser, but the Panthers tied it in the bottom of the third.
In the top of the seventh, Sloane Ambrose impressed the ballpark with her smooth baserunning. Ambrose reached on a leadoff single to center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Alyse Maurer then fouled out to the second baseman in shallow right field, and Ambrose advanced to third after tagging up. During Betthauser’s final at-bat, Ambrose took advantage of a poor pickoff attempt and scored the go-ahead run with the count 2-1. Betthauser would strike out looking three pitches later.
Bobak was stellar on the mound, allowing five hits and two walks with a hit batter. She struck out 14 hitters. Prien doubled for Monroe’s only extra base hit.
Barneveld 14, Pecatonica 4
Barneveld 17, Pecatonica 0
BARNEVELD — The Vikings were swept in a doubleheader May 14, giving up a ghastly 31 runs and committing 15 errors in just nine innings of play.
In the opener, the Eagles took a 4-0 lead after the first and led 12-0 after three innings. Pecatonica scored a run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth, forcing Barneveld to keep playing. The Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to force the 10-run mercy rule.
Lily Busser had two hits, two RBIs a run and a steal for Pecatonica. Tessa Green took the loss on the mound, throwing 149 pitches in 5.2 innings of work, allowing 13 hits and seven walks with four strikeouts. She also hit a batter.
Barneveld’s Kyla Ihm struck out 10 and allowed just one earned run on six hits and no walks.
In Game 2, Daelynn Rhodes struck out 8 of the 10 batters she faced, with just one runner reaching base on a dropped third strike.
Barneveld scored six runs in the first inning, four in the second and then seven in the third, ending the twinbill.
Riverdale 6, Darlington 2
DARLINGTON — The Redbirds gave up four unanswered runs in the sixth inning of their SWAL game May 13.
Bethany McDonald had two hits with a double and a run for Darlington. Alyssa Tuescher pitched six innings for the Redbirds, allowing four earned runs on eight hits and five walks. Kaylyn McGuire tossed a scoreless seventh.
Mineral Point 18, Darlington 5
DARLINGTON — McDonald was 3 for 4 with two runs and a double, and Lucy Heinberg went 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI, but it wasn’t enough for the Redbirds against the state’s 10th-ranked team.
The Pointers led 5-1 after two innings and put up a 10-spot in the sixth to slam the door shut. Mineral Point had 11 consecutive batters reach base in the frame.
Tuescher took the loss, allowing 17 hits, four walks and 13 runs. McGuire was tagged for five runs in the forgettable sixth.
Fennimore 8, Darlington 7
DARLINGTON — McDonald continued hitting May 14, collecting two hits and driving in two runs in a tough loss to the Eagles.
Heinberg, Tuescher and Taylor Crist all had two hits for the Redbirds, which scored five runs in the third to take a brief 6-1 lead.
Fennimore scored five runs in the top of the fourth and added two more in the fifth. Darlington scored one in the bottom of the fifth and couldn’t scratch across the game-tying run.
Tuescher pitched the first 3.1 innings, allowing six runs on four hits and five walks. McGuire allowed two unearned runs to score in 3.2 innings of work.
