BRODHEAD — Cardinals stars Ava Risum and Mckenna Young continued to dominate all shapes across the diamond, from in the pitcher’s circle to the batter’s box. The duo each hit a solo home run and walked twice at the dish while combining for 11 strikeouts and a third-straight no-hitter in a 4-0 win over Marshall on May 30 in a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal.
Brodhead (24-2, ranked No. 2 in D3) will travel to River Valley June 1 for the sectional final. It is the program’s first crack at reaching a state tournament since 2013, when the Cardinals lost in the sectional final. Brodhead’s only trip to state was in 2004, when it won the Division 3 championship.
“It’s going to mean everything to me. It’s do-or-die, and I want the gold,” Young said.
Young started on the mound against Marshall, striking out seven with a single walk in four innings. She also hit two batters that crowded the plate. Risum came on in relief in the top of the fifth inning and immediately threw back-to-back perfect frames. She finished with four strikeouts.
“I looked at coach (Steve Krupke) and I told him that Marshall had prepared for me, and I think it was best for the team if she goes in, and she proved that it was,” Young said. “Ava did a phenomenal job coming in.”
Both pitchers would be certified aces on practically any staff across the state. Putting them together is practically a lights-out sentence for their opponents.
“It’s awesome to have someone that I can rely on if I’m not doing my best. It’s tough out here, and to have the dynamic we have is awesome. I trust her wholeheartedly,” Young said.
Krupke said he knows his team has a luxury of pitching, but now that the playoffs are in full swing, the defense has to step up or else it could mean a quick exit.
“We can’t just rely on our pitchers. If we make errors, that puts pressure on our pitchers. Tonight it worked out and we got the strikeouts that we needed, but what it does it bumps their pitch count up and adds on to what I call ‘stressful pitches,’” Krupke said.
In the seventh, two errors put runners on first and second, but first baseman Alexis Kammerer lunged to catch a weak infield pop-up, and she spun around to second base to pick off the runner to end the game.
“I think a great compliment for our team is that we keep working hard. Everyone on this team is incredibly talented and I’m blessed to be a part of it,” Young said.
Despite the dominance of allowing zero hits with 11 strikeouts, Marshall baserunners weren’t rare. Young beaned two batters in the first inning, and the Cardinals committed four errors in the field. However, each time Young or Risum found a way out of the inning.
Offensively, Risum set the tone from the get-go. Running Marshall’s Kennedy Weisensel to a full count in the leadoff spot, Risum sent a high fly ball just over the fence in left field. The home run launched her teammates into a frenzy.
“It felt amazing – and that was the first one of my season, too,” Risum said. “I feel like that set the tone for us. We came in knowing we could do something special in this game, and I feel like we proved to a lot of people that we’ve got this.”
Two innings later, Young matched her pitching mate with a no-doubt smash to deep left, making it 2-0.
In the fifth, Risum and Young each reached by intentional walk, and Kammerer made the most of her final at bat on her home field. In the third inning, the senior rightly sent a line drive back up the middle that Weisensel snagged, but in the fifth, Kammerer put even more of a drive into the ball, roping it to the centerfield fence for a 2-RBI double. “I think she’ll (Kammerer) admit it, softball is not her No. 1 sport, but she’s a 3-sport athlete. She’s played in a state championship for volleyball, she’s been in crucial situations in basketball,” Krupke said, “and when she got in the batter’s box, because she’s been a competitor in all of these sports, I think it just took some pressure away from her and she was able to just go about her approach. She found something to drive, and she drove it.”
From her last AB on her home field, to a quick double play on defense, she rose to the moment when her team needed her, just as she has in all three sports for four years.
“I don’t really have many words to say, because it’s pretty amazing. These girls stick together. We’re just a big family working for each other every day,” Kammerer said. “I’m really going to miss this field, but we’re not done yet. We still have at least one more game to play, one more game to compete, and these girls are family. I’ve played with some of these girls through all three sports.”
River Valley (20-7) ended the season out of the Top 10 rankings. Marshall (8) had knocked off top-ranked Poynette (1) in the regional final. Peshtigo (3) and Mishicot (10) are the only remaining ranked teams in the Division 3 playoffs.
