BLANCHARDVILLE — The Vikings are surprising some teams this season, at one point in time ranked as high as fourth in Division 5, and entered this week 10th.
On May 25, the Vikings defeated Monticello-New Glarus 10-2.
“We had some hard hits, they had some hard hits — everybody was hitting,” said Cara Goninen, Pecatonica head coach. “We’ve been in kind of a slump lately, and now we’re bringing it back, which was good to see.”
In the second inning, the Vikings got MNG starting pitcher Jaden Zuber, roping some balls into the outfield and putting pressure on the Ponies with their baserunning. Pecatonica scored five runs in the frame, effectively chasing Zuber off the mound before the start of the third.
In the fourth inning, the Vikings added four more runs against Harley Disch to go up 9-0. MNG scored a run in both the fifth and sixth innings, but couldn’t get any closer.
We had some hard hits, they had some hard hits — everybody was hitting. We’ve been in kind of a slump lately, and now we’re bringing it back, which was good to see.Cara Goninen, Pecatonica head coach
“We used Harley last night (against Argyle), so we were trying to give her a rest. Jaden did well and we have confidence in her,” MNG coach Lindsay Williams said. “They were hitting really well off of Jaden, so we just changed it up a little bit.”
Pecatonica out-hit MNG 18-5 in the contest, and walked three times to the Ponies’ 2. Chloe Schraepfer tossed the first five innings, with Lexi McSherry finishing off the contest over the final two innings.
“Lexi is always there when we need her and she can throw some balls and throw some strikes,” Goninen said.
McSherry, Schraepfer, Bri Peterson and Sam Ihm all doubled for Pecatonica. Lily Busser had four hits and two runs, while McSherry finished the day with three hits and two runs. Schraepfer, Nivaeh Gross, Triniti Greunenfelder and Maddie Hirsch each had two hits.
Disch, Alivia Palmer and McKenna Pfeuti all doubled for MNG. It was Pfeuti’s double off the fence in the fifth that sparked the offense a bit.
“She (Pfeuti) has had kind of a rough year batting with a lot of strikeouts, but she has that confidence as a senior and it’s nice to have those hits,” Williams said. “Our biggest fault this year is trying to find the ball and make contact. I was happy we got some hits and scored a few runs — we’ve had trouble scoring at times this year.”
This is also the first year of the Monticello-New Glarus co-op. The two programs won just one game in 2019 — which came in a matchup between the two teams. With the 2020 season canceled, the simple development of the players lacked more than would have in a normal year. Throwing the two schools together to make one team, plus the overall inexperience of varsity play, made filling out the lineup hard with just one week of practice. Now, a month in, the team is starting to figure themselves out.
Our biggest fault this year is trying to find the ball and make contact. I was happy we got some hits and scored a few runs — we’ve had trouble scoring at times this year.Lindsay Williams, Monticello-New Glarus
“It’s actually been pretty good and the girls have meshed really well together,” Williams said. “The errors sometimes kill us, but in general I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls. Hopefully we’ll come back together stronger next year — we lose quite a few seniors, but it’s been actually a really good season, despite a lot of losses. We’ve started to put some of those puzzle pieces together here in the last few weeks.”
Pecatonica, meanwhile, as turned its program around a bit. At 11-2 overall this season, its more than the program had from the previous four seasons combined (10).
“Coming from a team where our past records have not been great to this, it’s awesome. Watching everyone talk and communicate, stay positive while playing has been wonderful,” Goninen said. “Hopefully we keep winning and can go far in the next couple of weeks.”
