MONROE - Throwing a perfect game is the dream of every pitcher.
That dream became reality as Monroe junior Kristin McArdle pitched the second perfect game in school history to propel the Cheesemakers to a 10-0 win over Madison Edgewood in five innings Thursday. It's the first no-hitter and perfect game in McArdle's pitching career.
"I just replayed the game in my head and I realized we didn't have any baserunners," McArdle said, of her thoughts entering the bottom of the fifth inning. "I just went out there to try to finish it off. It's nice to get our team going in the right direction. Hopefully, we can get a few more wins now."
McArdle induced 11 groundouts and struck out four. It's the first perfect game since Amy Bahler tossed a perfect game in 2002, which also came against Edgewood. With the win, Monroe improves to 5-12, 4-3 Badger South.
"I was just happy," McArdle said. "I was just relieved to get out of there without any trouble. I did it thanks to our defense who played great."
Monroe coach Dale Buvid didn't want to put any extra pressure on McArdle about going for a no-hitter or perfect game.
"We tried not to talk about it," Buvid said. "With two outs, Jessica Beckman said something to Kristin that she had a no-hitter. Sometimes that's a jinx."
However, it didn't phase McArdle, who retired the first seven batters on groundouts, and she got Edgewood's Heather Grelle to groundout to second to end the game.
"The thing that I'm most impressed with is she didn't walk anyone," Buvid said. "We are having her use her offspeed pitches more because she can't consistently blow people away."
After loading the bases in the first with no outs, the Cheesemakers could only push across one run on senior Brandi Trewartha's fielder's choice.
Buvid said when the Cheesemakers loaded the bases in the first, it looked like they would score three or four runs.
Grelle was able to pitch out of the jam by striking out senior Gwen Sutter and getting senior Abby Kennison to ground out.
The Cheesemakers batted around the order and exploded for an eight-run third. Junior Kelsey Erickson, who was 2-for-3 and scored two runs, singled to center leading off the third. Sutter reached on one of the Crusaders' three errors and the Cheesemakers scored to take a 2-0 lead. Trewartha, who went 2-for-3 at the plate, singled and Kennison lined an RBI single to left.
Monroe senior Paisley Bennett delivered a two-out, two-run single that gave the Cheesemakers a commanding 6-0 lead. Erickson in her second at-bat of the inning, reached on an error and the Cheesemakers scored a run to take an 8-0 lead. McArdle capped the third when she crushed an RBI triple to right center.
"Paisley's two-out, two-run single kind of broke the game open for us," Buvid said. "The two-out hits have just dried up for us this year."
McArdle got all the run support she needed in the third.
"That helped a lot," she said. "It takes some of the pressure off me. We just have to keep hitting and I think we will keep going in the right direction."
Monroe trails Fort Atkinson (13-2, 6-1) by two games and is one and a half games behind Stoughton (6-4, 5-1) in the race to win the Badger South title. The Cheesemakers lost three straight conference games last year, but rebounded to win the Badger South Conference outright. Now Buvid is thinking about starting another streak. He's hoping the Cheesemakers can get hot with two critical conference games at Milton Tuesday and at Fort Atkinson Thursday. The Cheesemakers handed the Red Hawks their only conference loss 4-1 earlier this month. The Cheesemakers will host Stoughton May 18.
"We are building to try to do something in the tournament," Buvid said. "We still have a ways to go."
That dream became reality as Monroe junior Kristin McArdle pitched the second perfect game in school history to propel the Cheesemakers to a 10-0 win over Madison Edgewood in five innings Thursday. It's the first no-hitter and perfect game in McArdle's pitching career.
"I just replayed the game in my head and I realized we didn't have any baserunners," McArdle said, of her thoughts entering the bottom of the fifth inning. "I just went out there to try to finish it off. It's nice to get our team going in the right direction. Hopefully, we can get a few more wins now."
McArdle induced 11 groundouts and struck out four. It's the first perfect game since Amy Bahler tossed a perfect game in 2002, which also came against Edgewood. With the win, Monroe improves to 5-12, 4-3 Badger South.
"I was just happy," McArdle said. "I was just relieved to get out of there without any trouble. I did it thanks to our defense who played great."
Monroe coach Dale Buvid didn't want to put any extra pressure on McArdle about going for a no-hitter or perfect game.
"We tried not to talk about it," Buvid said. "With two outs, Jessica Beckman said something to Kristin that she had a no-hitter. Sometimes that's a jinx."
However, it didn't phase McArdle, who retired the first seven batters on groundouts, and she got Edgewood's Heather Grelle to groundout to second to end the game.
"The thing that I'm most impressed with is she didn't walk anyone," Buvid said. "We are having her use her offspeed pitches more because she can't consistently blow people away."
After loading the bases in the first with no outs, the Cheesemakers could only push across one run on senior Brandi Trewartha's fielder's choice.
Buvid said when the Cheesemakers loaded the bases in the first, it looked like they would score three or four runs.
Grelle was able to pitch out of the jam by striking out senior Gwen Sutter and getting senior Abby Kennison to ground out.
The Cheesemakers batted around the order and exploded for an eight-run third. Junior Kelsey Erickson, who was 2-for-3 and scored two runs, singled to center leading off the third. Sutter reached on one of the Crusaders' three errors and the Cheesemakers scored to take a 2-0 lead. Trewartha, who went 2-for-3 at the plate, singled and Kennison lined an RBI single to left.
Monroe senior Paisley Bennett delivered a two-out, two-run single that gave the Cheesemakers a commanding 6-0 lead. Erickson in her second at-bat of the inning, reached on an error and the Cheesemakers scored a run to take an 8-0 lead. McArdle capped the third when she crushed an RBI triple to right center.
"Paisley's two-out, two-run single kind of broke the game open for us," Buvid said. "The two-out hits have just dried up for us this year."
McArdle got all the run support she needed in the third.
"That helped a lot," she said. "It takes some of the pressure off me. We just have to keep hitting and I think we will keep going in the right direction."
Monroe trails Fort Atkinson (13-2, 6-1) by two games and is one and a half games behind Stoughton (6-4, 5-1) in the race to win the Badger South title. The Cheesemakers lost three straight conference games last year, but rebounded to win the Badger South Conference outright. Now Buvid is thinking about starting another streak. He's hoping the Cheesemakers can get hot with two critical conference games at Milton Tuesday and at Fort Atkinson Thursday. The Cheesemakers handed the Red Hawks their only conference loss 4-1 earlier this month. The Cheesemakers will host Stoughton May 18.
"We are building to try to do something in the tournament," Buvid said. "We still have a ways to go."
