MONROE - The chase for the Badger South Conference championship just got a little more interesting after Monona Grove knocked off Monroe 7-2 Friday at Twining Park.
The top of the conference got a lot more jumbled. Monroe (10-4, 7-2 Badger South) now has just a one game lead atop the conference over Monona Grove 11-5, (5-3 Badger South), Stoughton (5-3) and For Atkinson (4-3 Badger South).
Monona Grove out-hit the Cheesemakers 10-6 and played nearly flawless defense, inducing the Cheesemakers into 15 groundouts. Monona Grove's Carly Patton, the Silver Eagles' No. 7 hitter, went 3-for-4 with two RBI and lead off hitter Bre Feiler went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI powered the Silver Eagles.
"All of our margin for error is gone now," Monroe coach Dale Buvid said. "If we want to win a conference championship, we have to win out. They (Monona Grove) made plays all night. It's one of those things where you hit the ball sharp and it doesn't find a hole. We got out-coached a little bit."
Early on, it looked like the Cheesemakers, ranked No. 10 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association state poll, would be up to the challenge. Monroe junior Natalie Dillon doubled and junior Brooke Adams followed with a sacrifice bunt. Senior Kari Jordan had an RBI groundout to stake the Cheesemakers to a 1-0 lead. Dillon went 3-for-3 with three doubles to lead the Cheesemakers.
Feiler blasted a solo home run into a tree in right center in the third to tie the game at 1. Dillon is working on perfecting her changeup so she can be consistent locating it and her rise ball for strikes.
"It's a game of inches," Dillon said. "If you leave it up even just an inch it makes all the difference. I have to keep it down. As the season has progressed, I have gotten better at it. I need the changeup and rise ball to mix it up and keep them off-balance."
Buvid has seen Dillon make strides in throwing harder, but he still challenges her to work on locating her pitches.
"She's trending up," Buvid said. "She's throwing harder. We still have some problems with location of the fastball and rise ball. She left some up thigh to waist high."
The Cheesemakers regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Dillon doubled and Adams moved her over with a sacrifice bunt. Jordan then lined an RBI single to left to give the Cheesemakers a 2-1 lead.
The big inning for the Silver Eagles came in the fourth where they scored four runs. Patton had an RBI single. Dillon hit a batter and the Cheesemakers committed an error. The big blow came on Feiler's two-run triple.
Dillon laced three doubles and had half of the Cheesemakers' hits. She had no problems hitting against Monona Grove's Autumn Lesniak.
"She was mainly throwing a fastball and changeup and not a lot up," Dillon said of Lesniak. "I was just thinking in this situation what would she throw me and I just really got ready inside the box."
Monroe junior Kaya Teasdale had a one-out double in the second, but the Cheesemakers couldn't push across a run. The Silver Eagles were 6-for-14 hitting with runners in scoring position and the Cheesemakers 1-for-8.
"We swung at a lot of balls down and in," Buvid said. "There are two things we have to do to get better. We have to get more consistent offense and Natalie has to locate her pitches better."
Monroe will play a doubleheader at Waupun today. Waupun (17-2) has outscored conference opponents 157-5.
The top of the conference got a lot more jumbled. Monroe (10-4, 7-2 Badger South) now has just a one game lead atop the conference over Monona Grove 11-5, (5-3 Badger South), Stoughton (5-3) and For Atkinson (4-3 Badger South).
Monona Grove out-hit the Cheesemakers 10-6 and played nearly flawless defense, inducing the Cheesemakers into 15 groundouts. Monona Grove's Carly Patton, the Silver Eagles' No. 7 hitter, went 3-for-4 with two RBI and lead off hitter Bre Feiler went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI powered the Silver Eagles.
"All of our margin for error is gone now," Monroe coach Dale Buvid said. "If we want to win a conference championship, we have to win out. They (Monona Grove) made plays all night. It's one of those things where you hit the ball sharp and it doesn't find a hole. We got out-coached a little bit."
Early on, it looked like the Cheesemakers, ranked No. 10 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association state poll, would be up to the challenge. Monroe junior Natalie Dillon doubled and junior Brooke Adams followed with a sacrifice bunt. Senior Kari Jordan had an RBI groundout to stake the Cheesemakers to a 1-0 lead. Dillon went 3-for-3 with three doubles to lead the Cheesemakers.
Feiler blasted a solo home run into a tree in right center in the third to tie the game at 1. Dillon is working on perfecting her changeup so she can be consistent locating it and her rise ball for strikes.
"It's a game of inches," Dillon said. "If you leave it up even just an inch it makes all the difference. I have to keep it down. As the season has progressed, I have gotten better at it. I need the changeup and rise ball to mix it up and keep them off-balance."
Buvid has seen Dillon make strides in throwing harder, but he still challenges her to work on locating her pitches.
"She's trending up," Buvid said. "She's throwing harder. We still have some problems with location of the fastball and rise ball. She left some up thigh to waist high."
The Cheesemakers regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Dillon doubled and Adams moved her over with a sacrifice bunt. Jordan then lined an RBI single to left to give the Cheesemakers a 2-1 lead.
The big inning for the Silver Eagles came in the fourth where they scored four runs. Patton had an RBI single. Dillon hit a batter and the Cheesemakers committed an error. The big blow came on Feiler's two-run triple.
Dillon laced three doubles and had half of the Cheesemakers' hits. She had no problems hitting against Monona Grove's Autumn Lesniak.
"She was mainly throwing a fastball and changeup and not a lot up," Dillon said of Lesniak. "I was just thinking in this situation what would she throw me and I just really got ready inside the box."
Monroe junior Kaya Teasdale had a one-out double in the second, but the Cheesemakers couldn't push across a run. The Silver Eagles were 6-for-14 hitting with runners in scoring position and the Cheesemakers 1-for-8.
"We swung at a lot of balls down and in," Buvid said. "There are two things we have to do to get better. We have to get more consistent offense and Natalie has to locate her pitches better."
Monroe will play a doubleheader at Waupun today. Waupun (17-2) has outscored conference opponents 157-5.
