MONROE — The fifth-ranked Cheesemakers swept Milton with wins on consecutive days April 22 and 23.
Monroe won the road game 8-1 on April 22, then walked off by mercy rule April 23 with a 10-0 victory.
“I thought we did really well,” Cheesemakers coach Joe O’Leksy said. “It’s easy to come in after an 8-1 win the day before and be stale.”
In the road game, Olivia Bobak struck out 12 Red Hawks while allowing an unearned run on five walks and just one hit. She continued her dominance in the next game, striking out 11 in five innings while allowing two walks and four hits.
Monroe’s hitting has turned it up the past few weeks as well. In the road game, Monroe had eight hits and four walks. Half of the Cheesemakers hits were for extra bases — including a solo home run by Sydney Updike.
They may not have the batting averages, but our bottom of the order is getting one or two big hits every single game.Monroe coach Joe O'Leksy
“When some people are not hitting — and Olivia is in a slump, which happens to everybody — others are picking it up, which is great,” O’Leksy said.
In the home win, Monroe (10-2, 6-0 Badger South) had 12 hits and two walks, with five extra base hits. Hailey Betthauser was 2 for 4 on the day with a key triple in the bottom of the third inning that opened the scoring. The Cheesemakers would score four runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks in part to the bottom of the order to make it a 6-0 game. In the fifth inning, Updike hit a bases-loaded single with two outs to end the game early, capping a second four-run inning.
“Hailey getting that triple, with great baserunning putting pressure on them — people were coming through,” O’Leksy said. “They may not have the batting averages, but our bottom of the order is getting one or two big hits every single game.”
Betthauser is on a bit of a hitting streak, as she is coming off a weekend where she homered in three consecutive games at the team’s home tournament April 20.
“I started off struggling at the beginning of the season, but I’m seeing it good now,” Betthauser said. “I’m tracking it well. (Saturday) was a big confidence booster.”
Grace Tostrud was 2 for 3 in both wins over Milton, while Lizzy Snider was 3 for 7 in the series with two RBIs. Sloane Ambrose was 3 for 5 with three RBIs in the series.
“It comes and goes with every hitter, and that’s tracking the ball,” O’Leksy said. “Keeping your head in and watching it all the way to the bat. When we are not anxious — and less is more — we get a lot better results and people start hitting the ball to the right side and taking it where it is pitched.”
Milton starter Erica Reif struggled in both games, allowing 17 earned runs on 18 hits and three walks with just eight strikeouts. The Red Hawks are 8-5 overall and 3-5 in the Badger South.
I started off struggling at the beginning of the season, but I’m seeing it good now.Hailey Betthauser
“She’s a good pitcher. She had been averaging between 9-10 strikeouts a game, and I can see why,” O’Leksy said. “She has a nice changeup, a drop ball and throws the ball basically where she wanted to with a little bit of pace. And we just figured it out after a while,”
Monroe has aspirations of reaching the state tournament this year. Betthauser said the team’s current eight-game winning streak is an indication that the Cheesemakers are moving in the right direction.
“It’s a good start to try to meet our goals to get to state. It feels really good pushing and getting through all these teams,” Betthauser said.
Monroe was scheduled to play Watertown (7-3, 6-1) in a doubleheader Thursday in Watertown, but the game was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. A nonconference game April 29 is at home against Arrowhead (3-3), and then Monroe faces Oregon (5-4, 4-4) and Stoughton (1-8, 0-7) by the end of next week.
