BELLEVILLE — Wins have been hard to come by over the past five years on the softball diamond in New Glarus and Monticello. The two teams entered into a co-op in 2021 after each posting just one win dating back to the end of the 2017 campaign. 

For Monticello, that win was against its future teammates in New Glarus (2019). Prior to that, the Ponies hadn’t scored a victory since May 23, 2017. The last win for the Knights came May 8, 2018, when they split a double-header at Cambridge.

But this season, the mood has changed a bit. While the team has just one win last year and this season (both against Black Hawk), MNG had begun tightening up on their opponents. On May 12 at Belleville, the Ponies took advantage of early opportunities to get ahead 8-0, then hung on for dear life, capping 12 12-9 nail-biting victory.

“Our girls work so hard and they stay so positive through some really tough games and just come back and work hard each night, and support each other,” said Mitchell Cernek, who is in his first year leading the program. “Morale victories can only get you so far before you can get the real thing. It was great to see that for them — celebrating and excited. It’s been a few years since we’ve beaten anybody other than Black Hawk or ourselves.”

MNG had a very good day on offense — 13 hits, a double, a triple, nine steals and just one caught stealing. Pitchers Jaden Zuber and Tatum O’Bel walked just three batters and gave up a combined seven hits and just one earned run. 

But when the wheels began falling it, the MNG faithful gripped the armrests of their foldout chairs a bit tighter — seven errors led to eight unearned runs and runners occupying bases seemingly at-will.

The first inning opened easily enough for MNG, with freshman standout Dalana Trumpy reaching on a leadoff single, swiping second and moving to third on the same pitch thanks to a Wildcat error. A sacrifice fly by Bre McCoy scored Trumpy.

In the second inning, MNG found itself with two outs after just seven pitches. Grace Seffrood then walked to put pressure on the basepaths, and Karlee Wilkins hit into an error to plate another run. Trumpy then singled to left to bring home another run, then swiped second and third and scored on a throwing error. Three batters later, Katelyn Eyler scored on a Riley Keehn single to make it 6-0. MNG added a run in each of the third and fourth innings to go up 8-0.

The Ponies were riding maybe a bit too high, said Cernek. A course correct by Belleville put the MNG defense on its heels, and the mounting pressure from a series of mental errors began to crack at the confidence in the visitor’s dugout.

“We’ve had a couple of innings like that this year, where we’ll score 4 or 5 runs — then all of a sudden, they will score 5 or 6 in the bottom half. I think we got a little too comfortable there and Belleville woke us back up,” Cernek said. “Then we had a whole new game. There was a moment there in that inning at 8-2, 8-3, where you could feel our girls panic a little bit. … Once we ended that inning, we kind of re-centered again.”

Belleville scored five runs in the fourth, with O’Bel replacing Zuber during the inning. Cernek was waiting for his team to counterpunch, and they pulled through. Melanie Fink opened the fifth with a single and Wilkins and Trump walked to load the bases. Eyler came through with a sacrifice fly, and Wilkins scored on a heads-up baserunning play to give MNG a few runs of cushion again.

“I’m proud of our girls for tacking on some insurance runs,” Cernek said. “We talked about how important that was to not come out with a zero, but instead put some runs back on the board and grab some of that momentum back again.”

MNG would score twice more in the sixth, building back a 7-run lead, only for Belleville to score three times in the bottom of the frame. In the home half of the seventh and final inning, the Wildcats started a rally with two outs. Two walks, a single and an error brought home a run and put the go-ahead run at the plate in the form of Kailey Prochaska, who had smoked a booming double off the fence in her prior at-bat.

O’Bel quickly got ahead of Prochaska 0-2, and on the third pitch induced a weak popup to first baseman Ellie Eichelkraut for the game’s final out.

Trumpy finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs, a walk and three steals. Fink had two hits, three steals and three runs, while Wilkins had two hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Keehn was 2-for-5. Prochaska was 2-for-5 with a four RBIs. 

Zuber gave up three hits, a walk and five unearned runs in 3.1 innings. O’Bel tossed 3.2 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks. Prochaska started on the hill for Belleville, tossing 3.2 innings and striking out five. Ava Benash tossed the final 3.1. 

Monroe 14, Parkview 4

Monroe 12, Parkview 2

Monroe 6, Reedsburg 5

MONROE — The Cheesemakers went on a 3-game winning streak to close out the last week. Katrina Sathoff tossed 11 innings during the three games, grabbing two wins for Monroe. Sloane Ambrose tossed a shutout in Game 2 against Parkview, and Sophie Golembiewski tossed an inning in the opener.

At the plate in the three games, Sathoff had four doubles, while Karis Paulson and Ambrose each had three. Katie Witt and Brinley Roidt added doubles in a win over Reedsburg, in which Paulson also tripled. Sathoff had four steals in the stretch, with Ambrose and Paulson swiping two bags apiece.

Sathoff collected six hits and eight RBIs. Paulson finished with seven runs, five hits and five RBIs. Ambrose had six RBIs, five hits and four runs. Witt had six hits, and Roidt five. 

Argyle 4, Mineral Point 2

ARGYLE — The Orioles had a balanced attack to beat the Pointers in a nonconference game May 13.

Argyle scored a run in four different innings. Megan Johnson and Grace Ganshert each had two hits for the Orioles, while Ganshert allowed just one earned run in seven innings, scattering four hits and two walks to go with nine strikeouts. 

Edgerton 3, Brodhead 0

EDGERTON — The Cardinals out-hit the Tiders 4-2, but three errors on defense allowed the home team to walk off the diamond with the victory in a Rock Valley game May 12.

Ava Risum pitched all six innings for Brodhead, striking out 14 and allowing just two hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. The Cardinals couldn’t find a way to scratch any runs against Kate Gunderson, who strike out five while scattering four hits and three walks.

Highland 11, Pecatonica 6

BLANCHARDVILLE — The Vikings fought back from a 6-0 deficit in the fifth inning, but the rally came up short May 12 in a Six Rivers crossover loss to one of the state’s top-ranked teams.

Chloe Schraepfer struck out nine and gave up 10 hits, three walks and 11 runs (seven earned) in the complete game loss for Pecatonica. The big hurt came off the bat of Meg Tarrell who belted a grand slam against Schraepfer in the sixth inning. 

Tessa Green had two hits — a double and a home run — for the Vikings. Maddie Hirsch also doubled, and Schraepfer had two hits. Trinity Gruenenfelder finished the game with a hit, a walk and two runs.

Riverdale 6, Darlington 4

DARLINGTON — Greta Volkening and Josie Thomas each had two hits for the Redbirds, but the home squad was unable to grab a win May 13 against Riverdale.

The two teams entered the seventh inning knotted up at 1-1, but Riverdale scored five runs in the top half of the inning to take a commanding lead. A rally by Darlington came up short in the bottom half of the inning.

Sophie Wiegel took the loss for the Redbirds, allowing just one earned run on the day in seven innings of work in the pitcher’s circle.

Iowa-Grant 11, Darlington 2

Iowa-Grant 8, Darlington 3

DARLINGTON — The Redbirds were swept in a doubleheader against Iowa-Grant May 12.

Sophie Wiegel pitched 9 innings in the two games, while Mila Gille tossed 3.2 innings. Gille had four hits on the day, while Jaylyn Schwartz, Greta Volkening and Lylah Norgard each had three hits. Cayla Golackson drove in four runs.