DARLINGTON — Despite a 14-0 score favoring the opposing team, Darlington (0-3, 0-2 SWAL) head coach Molly Rice was happy with her girls’ performance against Cuba City (3-1, 1-1).

“With the exception of the seventh inning, I was very proud of the girls competing every inning and making plays on defense,” Rice said. “They did a great job staying in the fight.”

The Cubans blew the doors open in the seventh with seven runs before any outs were earned. 

Prior to the big inning, the Redbirds mostly minimized Cuba City’s output, which had a pair of hits in the second, a home run in the fourth, and a single in the fifth.

Darlington’s pitching and fielding were both responsible for holding the Cuba City offensive to a low run count over the stretch.

Sophie Wiegel (6 IP, 14 H, 10 R, 6 K, 2 BB) was on the mound for the stretch, and she tallied a trio of strikeouts across the 4-inning period.

Offense didn’t come quite as easily for the Redbirds, with Ella Winslow (1-for-3) recording Darlington’s only hit in the bottom of the second.

Walks also weren’t plentiful, as Wiegel was the only other Redbird to reach base via that means.

Even in the loss for Darlington softball, the community still won.

The matchup was the Redbirds’ seventh annual Autism Acceptance game, and the total funds raised was $3,007.84. Since its inception, the event’s raised around $23,000.