MONROE — Despite a no-doubt home run from Brinley Roidt in the fourth inning, Monroe fell to Mount Horeb 8-1 on Tuesday, April 25. The Cheesemakers committed three errors that led to two unearned runs.
“We need to play better on defense, and that’s where we’ve been lacking,” Monroe head coach Joe O’Leksy said. “That was our focus, and for 13 games we did well with that. Over the last two we’ve been on our heels. We will recover from it because we are young.”
Although Monroe’s defense wasn’t its best, Mount Horeb could also hit. Ruby Dahlk led off the game with a triple to right. With back-to-back singles and the Cheesemakers’ first error, the Vikings took a 2-0 lead. The third run of the inning came around on a passed ball.
Mount Horeb added on with an RBI groundout from Dahlk in the second.
The Vikings looked to put pressure on Monroe in the third, as Jayse Holman attempted to stretch her one-out single to a double. Roidt’s relay to the infield caught Holman in a pickle, though, and Sophie Golembiewski tagged her out coming back to first.
On the play, Holman cleated Golembiewski, sending her to the hospital for stitches.
“Sophie got hurt, and that’s our big concern right now,” O’Leksy said. “Obviously, we want her back and healthy.”
With Golembiewski out, O’Leksy shifted his defense. Alexis Herbst moved to third, and Katie Witt took over at first. To get out of the inning, starting pitcher Kaegann Paulson induced a grounder to shortstop Katrina Sathoff, who simply stepped on second for the out.
Sparked by Golembiewski’s injury, Paulson lined a one-out double to center. The momentum was short-lived, though, as O’Leksy’s hit-and-run call ended in an inning-ending double play.
“Right now, it seems we are snake bit — when we do get something going, we hit a line drive and it gets caught,” O’Leksy said.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth, Roidt smoked a solo home run over the left field fence to make it a 4-1 game.
“At the beginning of last year, I wasn’t very good at batting, so I just focused on that,” Roidt said. “This year, it’s really come out. I’ve hit two home runs this year, so it’s really exciting.”
The long ball didn’t provide the spark head coach O’Leksy was looking for, though. Over the next three innings, just one extra batter reached base.
On the other side, Mount Horeb scored four runs on two hits, three walks and one error to earn the 8-1 victory.
Paulson led the offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double. The other two hits for Monroe came from Kate Kundert and Roidt. In the circle, Paulson gave up six earned runs on seven hits.
OREGON 7, MONROE 2
OREGON — The Cheesemakers couldn’t overcome a three-run first by the Panthers, dropping a Badger Conference game on Monday, April 24. With the loss, Monroe drops to second in conference.
Roidt had two of Monroe’s three hits and one of two RBIs. Olivia Feller, who went 1-for-3, had the other RBI. Paulson suffered the loss, giving up just two earned runs on seven hits. The Cheesemakers committed seven errors.
