MONROE - Freeport senior Sydney Ohrtmann got some clutch timely hits and the Pretzels handed the Cheesemakers their first loss 5-2 in the championship of the Monroe Invitational Saturday at Twining Park.
With the win, Freeport improves to 10-1. The only loss for the Pretzels this season was to Sterling, the No. 1-ranked team in the Illinois Coaches Association 3A poll. It marked the first loss this year for the Cheesemakers (10-1), who are ranked No. 6 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Softball Coaches Association state poll. The invitational was also a cancer awareness opportunity where the softball team wore and sold "Strikeout Cancer" T-shirts.
Freeport junior Taylor Murray pitched five innings to get the win. She gave up one run on four hits, while striking out four and walking one. Freeport's Maddie Wallace tossed two innings in relief to get the save.
Ohrtmann was a thorn in the side of the Cheesemakers going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Pretzels. Murray also went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI.
"This game against Freeport, win or lose, just makes us a better team," Monroe coach Joe O'Leksy said. "They are one of the upper echelon teams that would be in Wisconsin. This is one of the teams we would see on the road to state. It was a good test for us. It's a building block for the future."
The Cheesemakers committed four errors.
"We had too many mistakes," O'Leksy said. "You can't have that many errors against a really good team and give them that many chances."
To get to the championship game, Monroe knocked off Orangeville 6-3 and Tomahawk 3-1 in pool play.
Monroe senior Madison Katzenberger went 3-for-3 against the Pretzels. Katzenberger had a lead-off single in the third inning. Senior Meredith Hose reached on a fielder's choice and junior Hailey Betthauser reached on an error to set up a golden scoring opportunity against Murray. Monroe freshman Alyse Maurer knocked in Hose on a groundout to give the Cheesemakers a short-lived 1-0 lead.
"I think it gives us confidence that we can stay with teams that are as talented as Freeport," Katzenberger said. "They have two really solid pitchers. I think we did really well against them. We had a little trouble at the beginning, but we came back. We stayed focused, we stayed confident and really worked hard.
"I think we had a lot of talented teams here. It's always nice to win when you host a tournament. I think we knew coming into this that we would have a lot of tough competition. I think playing against a team that is as good as Freeport, Orangeville and Tomahawk; since Tomahawk that was ranked in the top 10 last year it really boosts us and boosts our confidence that we can play against teams that are really good."
Freeport's Riley Kleckler singled off Monroe pitcher Olivia Bobak leading off the third. Ohrtmann then lined a drive down the left field line that rolled behind the fence into foul territory and it led to a game-tying RBI triple. Ohrtmann then scored on Bobak's wild throw to first base to give the Pretzels a 2-1 lead.
Ohrtmann delivered an RBI single in the fourth and Reese Coon came through with a clutch RBI single in the fifth to give the Pretzels a 4-1 lead.
Bobak pitched a complete game and gave up four runs nine hits. She struck out nine and walked one.
"I think we definitely learned how to cope with the pressure," Bobak said. "We were all very high strung at the beginning of the game. We were able to relax once we were able to hit some balls and make some solid plays."
The Cheesemakers took second in the tournament, but Bobak remains confident.
"I feel like we played very good overall today," Bobak said. "I feel like our hits were coming together really well and our defense was really good. Even with a couple of errors we managed to pull it off."
"I'm happy we didn't go down without giving them, a scare," O'Leksy said.
Monroe 3,
Tomahawk 1
Bobak retired the first nine hitters she faced and gave up one run on six hits. Bobak struck out 10 and walked one.
Monroe senior Alysha Witt went 2-for-3. The Cheesemakers got on the board in the fourth. Updike lined a two-out single to right. Witt followed smoking an RBI triple to right to give the Cheesemakers a 1-0 lead.
Monroe added to its lead in the fifth. Hose lined a single to left. Betthauser reached on a dropped fly ball in right and Hose scored to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 2-0. Monroe freshman Alyse Maurer walked and Bobak delivered an RBI single to score Betthauser to give the Cheesemakers a 3-0 lead.
"We saw three power pitchers and two from Freeport," O'Leksy said.
Monroe 6,
Orangeville 3
Monroe sophomore Grace Tostrud went 3-for-3 with one RBI and Updike was 2-for-3 with four RBI to lead the Cheesemakers to the win.
"There were a couple of errors, but we didn't lose our composure," O'Leksy said of a late stretch in the game. "Orangeville is a really good team."
Monroe has a big week with four Badger South Conference games. Monroe plays at Fort Atkinson today, then are at Milton Tuesday and host Watertown in a doubleheader Thursday at Twining Park.
With the win, Freeport improves to 10-1. The only loss for the Pretzels this season was to Sterling, the No. 1-ranked team in the Illinois Coaches Association 3A poll. It marked the first loss this year for the Cheesemakers (10-1), who are ranked No. 6 in the Division 2 Wisconsin Softball Coaches Association state poll. The invitational was also a cancer awareness opportunity where the softball team wore and sold "Strikeout Cancer" T-shirts.
Freeport junior Taylor Murray pitched five innings to get the win. She gave up one run on four hits, while striking out four and walking one. Freeport's Maddie Wallace tossed two innings in relief to get the save.
Ohrtmann was a thorn in the side of the Cheesemakers going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Pretzels. Murray also went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI.
"This game against Freeport, win or lose, just makes us a better team," Monroe coach Joe O'Leksy said. "They are one of the upper echelon teams that would be in Wisconsin. This is one of the teams we would see on the road to state. It was a good test for us. It's a building block for the future."
The Cheesemakers committed four errors.
"We had too many mistakes," O'Leksy said. "You can't have that many errors against a really good team and give them that many chances."
To get to the championship game, Monroe knocked off Orangeville 6-3 and Tomahawk 3-1 in pool play.
Monroe senior Madison Katzenberger went 3-for-3 against the Pretzels. Katzenberger had a lead-off single in the third inning. Senior Meredith Hose reached on a fielder's choice and junior Hailey Betthauser reached on an error to set up a golden scoring opportunity against Murray. Monroe freshman Alyse Maurer knocked in Hose on a groundout to give the Cheesemakers a short-lived 1-0 lead.
"I think it gives us confidence that we can stay with teams that are as talented as Freeport," Katzenberger said. "They have two really solid pitchers. I think we did really well against them. We had a little trouble at the beginning, but we came back. We stayed focused, we stayed confident and really worked hard.
"I think we had a lot of talented teams here. It's always nice to win when you host a tournament. I think we knew coming into this that we would have a lot of tough competition. I think playing against a team that is as good as Freeport, Orangeville and Tomahawk; since Tomahawk that was ranked in the top 10 last year it really boosts us and boosts our confidence that we can play against teams that are really good."
Freeport's Riley Kleckler singled off Monroe pitcher Olivia Bobak leading off the third. Ohrtmann then lined a drive down the left field line that rolled behind the fence into foul territory and it led to a game-tying RBI triple. Ohrtmann then scored on Bobak's wild throw to first base to give the Pretzels a 2-1 lead.
Ohrtmann delivered an RBI single in the fourth and Reese Coon came through with a clutch RBI single in the fifth to give the Pretzels a 4-1 lead.
Bobak pitched a complete game and gave up four runs nine hits. She struck out nine and walked one.
"I think we definitely learned how to cope with the pressure," Bobak said. "We were all very high strung at the beginning of the game. We were able to relax once we were able to hit some balls and make some solid plays."
The Cheesemakers took second in the tournament, but Bobak remains confident.
"I feel like we played very good overall today," Bobak said. "I feel like our hits were coming together really well and our defense was really good. Even with a couple of errors we managed to pull it off."
"I'm happy we didn't go down without giving them, a scare," O'Leksy said.
Monroe 3,
Tomahawk 1
Bobak retired the first nine hitters she faced and gave up one run on six hits. Bobak struck out 10 and walked one.
Monroe senior Alysha Witt went 2-for-3. The Cheesemakers got on the board in the fourth. Updike lined a two-out single to right. Witt followed smoking an RBI triple to right to give the Cheesemakers a 1-0 lead.
Monroe added to its lead in the fifth. Hose lined a single to left. Betthauser reached on a dropped fly ball in right and Hose scored to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 2-0. Monroe freshman Alyse Maurer walked and Bobak delivered an RBI single to score Betthauser to give the Cheesemakers a 3-0 lead.
"We saw three power pitchers and two from Freeport," O'Leksy said.
Monroe 6,
Orangeville 3
Monroe sophomore Grace Tostrud went 3-for-3 with one RBI and Updike was 2-for-3 with four RBI to lead the Cheesemakers to the win.
"There were a couple of errors, but we didn't lose our composure," O'Leksy said of a late stretch in the game. "Orangeville is a really good team."
Monroe has a big week with four Badger South Conference games. Monroe plays at Fort Atkinson today, then are at Milton Tuesday and host Watertown in a doubleheader Thursday at Twining Park.
