MONROE — When the Cheesemakers are at their best, pitcher Olivia Bobak is throwing strikes on the mound.

A senior all-state hurler, Bobak struck out nine and walked two in Monroe’s 5-3 win over Fort Atkinson April 16 at Twining Park.

Though Bobak did scatter 10 hits, just one of the three runs against her were earned. And she threw 138 pitches in the game, 91 of which were strikes (65.9%).

“As long as we play defense and don’t walk a lot, that limits opportunities for the opposition,” Monroe coach Joe O’Leksy said. “I like our chances when that happens. We want to keep people off base as much as possible — no freebies.”

Monroe jumped on Fort pitcher Kat Brandl in the bottom of the second inning, plating three runs. After Grace Tostrud had a leadoff walk on a full-count, Katie Hayes, Lizzy Snider and Sara Prien hit back-to-back-to-back singles, plating two runners. Sloan Ambrose drove in the third run on a groundout to Brandl.

“We got the big hits at times when we really needed it,” O’Leksy said.

Monroe made it 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth on a single to left by Sydney Updike, driving in Alyse Maurer from second.

Fort plated a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth to make it 4-2. Needing an insurance run, senior 2-hitter Hailey Betthauser did what she does best — put the ball in play.

“You just have to have confidence,” Betthauser said. “You just have to keep your eye on (the ball) and try to drive it.”

With Maurer at first after a single and two steals, Betthauser roped a 1-2 pitch past the hot corner to make it 5-2.

“Hailey giving us that insurance run on a two-strike count, and she really battled with that. It was a huge one for us,” O’Leksy said.

Fort managed a run in the top of the seventh with two outs, but Bobak ended the game by striking out Angela Unate looking.

“What I really liked is we had the adversity with three errors that we came back and scored. That’s what we did all last year, and we hadn’t seen much of it this year, and I’m glad I’m seeing it now so we can move forward with this,” O’Leksy said.

Betthauser was a perfect 3 for 3 at the dish with a walk and two steals. Maurer was 3 for 4 with a pair of runs and a stolen base. Updike and Hayes also had two hits apiece. 

“Our leadoff hitter (Maurer) is starting to do what a leadoff hitter does — she was on base 3 out of 4 times. You’ve got to do that. And Hailey is our No. 2 and she was on base,” O’Leksy said. “And we’re stealing bases and doing the stuff we need to do to put people in scoring position.”

Monroe totaled 13 hits around the lineup, with just a single strikeout.

“This was a big game for us, because we are trying to keep up with Edgewood,” O’Leksy said of the Badger South race. “And it was good to see a pitcher like Kat that really tries to hit her spots and move in and out. At times we adjusted to it, and at times we were frustrated with it.”

Madison Edgewood, Monroe’s opponent in an April 18 matchup that wasn’t final by press time, stands at the top of the conference with a 4-0 league record. Monroe and Watertown are each 3-0. The Cheesemakers play Watertown April 25.