MONTICELLO — It took nearly 24 months, but the Ponies broke the losing streak.

“Last year we didn’t win a game, and so it’s been almost two years now,” Monticello head coach Gabe Zielke said after his team’s 6-4 win over New Glarus May 3. 

It was the program’s first victory since an 18-2 win over Faith Christian in the opening round of the playoffs May 23, 2017. 

“Battling through it — we’ve been in close games all year, but haven’t been able to make it over the hump. Finally pulling it together and getting a couple of crucial hits there in the last few innings really turned it around,” Zielke said.

After plating three runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Ponies got cold at the plate.

Maci Carney settled down on the mound for the Glarner Knights, which have also struggled to pick up wins in recent years, netting just one over the past two seasons. Carney allowed a walk in the second and another runner to reach on an error in the third, but put the Ponies down in order in the fourth inning on just seven pitches.

Carney’s quick inning came after her team scored three runs in the top half to take a 4-3 lead. Carney was the first of five straight walks the Knights worked to open the fourth inning. Monticello swapped out Harley Disch for Miah Brokopp during the string of bases on balls. Brokopp would go on to strike out the side while letting another run cross the plate on a hit by pitch.

“Miah is one of our better pitchers, but she struggles to hit the strike zone as well. She was gone all week, so I was hesitant to bring her in, but Harley was struggling and I knew I had to make a switch. It took her a little while to get into her groove — two or three batters — but then she found it and carried us home the rest of the way. She looked real good,” Zielke said.

In the bottom of the fifth, Sarah Blumer led off with a bunt single. She then stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice by Kaitlyn Eyler.

Lindsey Pence then grounded out to second to drive in the tying run. Brokopp sat down the Knights in order in the sixth to keep the momentum on Monticello’s side.

“Even our small ball was pretty good. We bunted and advanced runners, hit a ground ball to the right side to get that lead run — one we got that lead run, that was huge for us,” Zielke said.

Hannah Zanow led off the bottom of the sixth with a shot to center that was misplayed. She then stole second and scored the go-ahead run on a double by Alexa Siegenthaler on the very next pitch.

“Our defense has improved a lot since the beginning of the season,” New Glarus coach Myken Daeda said despite the miscue. “The offense, we just can’t seem to get those bats going.”

Chloe Kramer walked to open the top of the seventh and advanced to second on a one-out sacrifice bunt by Paige Johnson. Brokopp struck out Riley Keehn to end the game.

“It’s a different story in practice,” Daeda said of her team’s hitting. “Yesterday we had a really good practice and they were pretty confident in their batting and we get to a game and, I don’t know, it’s like they get scared.”

Brokopp struck out seven and allowed two hits and three walks in four innings of relief to get the win. Disch finished with four runs allowed on three hits and five walks with one strikeout.

Carney allowed just three earned runs on eight hits and a walk on just 60 pitches through six innings. New Glarus had six errors in the field.

Blumer had a triple and two runs on three hits for Monticello, while Zanow had three steals. Keehn and Zoe Moen each had two hits for New Glarus.

“This next week is big for us. We’ve got a couple of conference games against Pecatonica and Argyle. And that’s going to be huge for us with the seeding meeting coming up after that. It’s a good sport to hopefully start building some confidence come playoff time. I’m just excited to get a win and hopefully this continues,” Zielke said.