MADISON - Monroe softball coach Dale Buvid was quick to make two things perfectly clear late Saturday afternoon.
The first is that Cheesemakers were well aware prior to their 7-0 loss to top-ranked Baldwin-Woodville in the WIAA Division 2 state championship game that they were facing the most talented team in the state.
The second is, by the letter of the rule, junior pitcher Becca Armstrong was likely throwing the illegal pitches for which she was penalized four times.
With those two acknowledgments made, Buvid went on to demonstrate his sense of humor was intact following the end of the Cheesemakers' memorable 15-game winning streak.
"I think I'm the losingest state championship game coach now is state softball history," Buvid quipped. "I've lost four of them, so I think I'm No. 1. Not a real good No. 1 to be, but it is what it is."
The ledger does show Saturday's setback was the fourth straight in state title contests since the Cheesemakers' 2003 championship, but focusing on that fact would be missing the point.
Watching Monroe (22-8) mow through its postseason competition almost made people forget about the Cheesemakers' struggles as they slogged to a 7-7 start and showed little reason to believe they'd be playing for a state championship.
Even in the midst of the struggles, which came against the toughest part of Monroe's schedule, Buvid maintained his young team would be a factor come the postseason.
"We had a tremendous run there with the 15 wins in a row," Buvid said. "It's tough to lose the last one and you'd like to have your (state championship) picture on the wall in the school. But at the same time, 114 teams started (the Division 2 tournament), and we finished second. That's not too bad."
Not too bad at all.
Maybe that is why the tears were noticeably absent as the players met with family and friends beyond the right field fence at Goodman Diamond.
"We told everyone to be happy that we actually got (second) place instead of being fourth like last year," senior center fielder Kasey Gutzmer said, referring to a 10-0 loss to B-W in the state semifinals. "We should be smiling and happy."
That's a sentiment shared by Armstrong.
"It's been amazing," said Armstrong, who allowed seven hits to a B-W team that entered state tournament weekend with a gaudy .378 team batting average. "A lot of people doubted us when we were 7-7, but it was great to go out here and play against the No. 1-ranked team basically all season, and to give them a fight feels good."
Two things stood out about the Blackhawks (28-1) entering the season's final weekend: their video game-like power numbers and sophomore pitcher Abby Klopp.
Both played major factors in Baldwin-Woodville's first state championship.
The Blackhawks seized control with a big second inning. It started with B-W scratching out a run on an infield hit, an error and Haylie Noah's single to left field. Noah's hit went down as the game-winner, but leadoff hitter Heidi Hinz provided the game-changer when she crushed a three-run home run to left with two outs to push Baldwin-Woodville's lead to 4-0.
"The pitch was kind of on the outside corner and I could feel (that it had home run distance) when I hit the ball," Hinz said of her seventh round-tripper of the season and the Blackhawks' 36th.
For a team that finished the seven-game postseason by outscoring its opponents 55-3, that cushion was huge.
"That was a big pressure-reliever for me knowing that I could give up a few hits every once in a while," said Klopp, a sophomore who entered the state tournament with a 23-1 record and 0.73 ERA.
Hinz's blast came moments after Armstrong was called for illegal pitches against consecutive batters, the result of her plant foot breaking contact with the pitching rubber before releasing the ball.
Buvid said that in 29 previous games this season, the junior had been called for illegal pitches in two of them.
"They're umpiring for a reason and obviously they know what they're doing," Armstrong said. "It's just frustrating when you didn't get called the last game at state (on Thursday) and then you get called for all of those.
"It probably had an effect, you know? It's frustrating."
Buvid also was frustrated with the calls.
"It's unfortunate the illegal pitch thing got into play," he said. "(Baldwin-Woodville) started on that right away. They must have picked up that she supposedly leaps a little bit and they got the umpires to cooperate with them.
"We need to fix that a little bit because it is (there), but a lot of pitchers do it a little bit, too. It's unfortunate it gets called up here, but if you're going to be real technical to the rules, it might be the right call."
The Blackhawks tacked on a run in the fifth on Klopp's two-out RBI single and two in the seventh on back-to-back, two-out RBI doubles by Klopp and Katie Thompson. Baldwin-Woodville scored six of its seven runs with two outs.
"That was a difference in the game," said Buvid, whose team had one hit in each of the first four innings but only advanced one runner as far as third base.
Sophomore first baseman Kayla Updike went 2-for-3 with a double while freshman third baseman Kari Jordan and Gutzmer each added singles. Klopp retired the last 11 Monroe batters in order en route to an 11-strikeout performance.
Monroe loses two senior starters in Gutzmer and left fielder Alyssa Montgomery, and senior reserve Sarah Alexander also has graduated. But the majority of the team that was playing so well at season's end will return.
"We've got to enjoy it because you never know," Buvid said. "You think we have a good team and we'll be back, but it's just not that easy.
"You feel bad that you couldn't be in the game maybe a little bit more than we were. But at the same time, you're really proud of what you accomplished here during the year."
The first is that Cheesemakers were well aware prior to their 7-0 loss to top-ranked Baldwin-Woodville in the WIAA Division 2 state championship game that they were facing the most talented team in the state.
The second is, by the letter of the rule, junior pitcher Becca Armstrong was likely throwing the illegal pitches for which she was penalized four times.
With those two acknowledgments made, Buvid went on to demonstrate his sense of humor was intact following the end of the Cheesemakers' memorable 15-game winning streak.
"I think I'm the losingest state championship game coach now is state softball history," Buvid quipped. "I've lost four of them, so I think I'm No. 1. Not a real good No. 1 to be, but it is what it is."
The ledger does show Saturday's setback was the fourth straight in state title contests since the Cheesemakers' 2003 championship, but focusing on that fact would be missing the point.
Watching Monroe (22-8) mow through its postseason competition almost made people forget about the Cheesemakers' struggles as they slogged to a 7-7 start and showed little reason to believe they'd be playing for a state championship.
Even in the midst of the struggles, which came against the toughest part of Monroe's schedule, Buvid maintained his young team would be a factor come the postseason.
"We had a tremendous run there with the 15 wins in a row," Buvid said. "It's tough to lose the last one and you'd like to have your (state championship) picture on the wall in the school. But at the same time, 114 teams started (the Division 2 tournament), and we finished second. That's not too bad."
Not too bad at all.
Maybe that is why the tears were noticeably absent as the players met with family and friends beyond the right field fence at Goodman Diamond.
"We told everyone to be happy that we actually got (second) place instead of being fourth like last year," senior center fielder Kasey Gutzmer said, referring to a 10-0 loss to B-W in the state semifinals. "We should be smiling and happy."
That's a sentiment shared by Armstrong.
"It's been amazing," said Armstrong, who allowed seven hits to a B-W team that entered state tournament weekend with a gaudy .378 team batting average. "A lot of people doubted us when we were 7-7, but it was great to go out here and play against the No. 1-ranked team basically all season, and to give them a fight feels good."
Two things stood out about the Blackhawks (28-1) entering the season's final weekend: their video game-like power numbers and sophomore pitcher Abby Klopp.
Both played major factors in Baldwin-Woodville's first state championship.
The Blackhawks seized control with a big second inning. It started with B-W scratching out a run on an infield hit, an error and Haylie Noah's single to left field. Noah's hit went down as the game-winner, but leadoff hitter Heidi Hinz provided the game-changer when she crushed a three-run home run to left with two outs to push Baldwin-Woodville's lead to 4-0.
"The pitch was kind of on the outside corner and I could feel (that it had home run distance) when I hit the ball," Hinz said of her seventh round-tripper of the season and the Blackhawks' 36th.
For a team that finished the seven-game postseason by outscoring its opponents 55-3, that cushion was huge.
"That was a big pressure-reliever for me knowing that I could give up a few hits every once in a while," said Klopp, a sophomore who entered the state tournament with a 23-1 record and 0.73 ERA.
Hinz's blast came moments after Armstrong was called for illegal pitches against consecutive batters, the result of her plant foot breaking contact with the pitching rubber before releasing the ball.
Buvid said that in 29 previous games this season, the junior had been called for illegal pitches in two of them.
"They're umpiring for a reason and obviously they know what they're doing," Armstrong said. "It's just frustrating when you didn't get called the last game at state (on Thursday) and then you get called for all of those.
"It probably had an effect, you know? It's frustrating."
Buvid also was frustrated with the calls.
"It's unfortunate the illegal pitch thing got into play," he said. "(Baldwin-Woodville) started on that right away. They must have picked up that she supposedly leaps a little bit and they got the umpires to cooperate with them.
"We need to fix that a little bit because it is (there), but a lot of pitchers do it a little bit, too. It's unfortunate it gets called up here, but if you're going to be real technical to the rules, it might be the right call."
The Blackhawks tacked on a run in the fifth on Klopp's two-out RBI single and two in the seventh on back-to-back, two-out RBI doubles by Klopp and Katie Thompson. Baldwin-Woodville scored six of its seven runs with two outs.
"That was a difference in the game," said Buvid, whose team had one hit in each of the first four innings but only advanced one runner as far as third base.
Sophomore first baseman Kayla Updike went 2-for-3 with a double while freshman third baseman Kari Jordan and Gutzmer each added singles. Klopp retired the last 11 Monroe batters in order en route to an 11-strikeout performance.
Monroe loses two senior starters in Gutzmer and left fielder Alyssa Montgomery, and senior reserve Sarah Alexander also has graduated. But the majority of the team that was playing so well at season's end will return.
"We've got to enjoy it because you never know," Buvid said. "You think we have a good team and we'll be back, but it's just not that easy.
"You feel bad that you couldn't be in the game maybe a little bit more than we were. But at the same time, you're really proud of what you accomplished here during the year."
