MONROE - Becca Armstrong didn't need many warm-up pitches to find her groove in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal against Clinton on Thursday.
Armstrong dominated in tossing a one-hit shutout to lead Monroe to a 10-0 six-inning win over the Cougars at Twining Park.
Monroe (17-7) has won 10 straight games and will host Edgerton in a regional semifinal on Tuesday.
"I knew I had to throw it harder and keep it down because that is what I will have to do against other teams," Armstrong said. "I thought I might as well practice it. Coach really reinforced that I use this game to build confidence for the next one. I went out and threw strikes and that is what happened."
Armstrong struck out 14 and walked just one. The Cougars had just four baserunners. Clinton senior Megan Lantz tripled with two outs in the first inning, but Armstrong struck out the next batter to end the threat.
"(Armstrong) was throwing with a cross wind," Monroe coach Dale Buvid said. "She had pretty good pace and location. She got a couple of strikeouts with rise balls. Her changeup was effective."
The Cheesemakers' offense was just as impressive as Armstrong's pitching. Monroe pounded out 13 hits and sophomore Taylor O'Leksy, who went 3-for-4, staked the Cheesemakers to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to left in the first.
The Cheesemakers broke the game open when they batted around in a seven-run fourth. Sophomore Ellie Grossen, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two stolen bases, singled up the middle. Chandra McGuire lined a single to left and Kayla Updike ripped an RBI double down the third base line to give the Cheesemakers a 4-0 lead. O'Leksy reached on an infield single and Kari Jordan reached on an error.
The Cheesemakers scored two more runs on a Cougar error and Grossen delivered a two-run single to center to give Monroe a 9-0 lead.
"I think we got used to the slower pitching," O'Leksy said. "Our team is used to faster pitching. We just had to continue to follow the ball with our eyes. I think we did that in the fourth inning. We work on hitting a lot in practice. We just keep on getting better in practice."
Buvid also noticed another big difference.
"A big part of scoring runs is getting the leadoff hitter on base," Buvid said. "In the first three innings we didn't do that."
He credited Grossen for setting the table in the big inning.
"Ellie has been better the second half of the season drawing walks and getting on base more consistently," he said. "It's hard to go from hitting a high rate of speed and adjusting to a slower pitcher. The more you see it the better you hit it. The third time through the order we started measuring it better."
Monroe senior Alyssa Montgomery went 2-for-3, McGuire finished 2-for-3 and Katie Holmes was 2-for-4.
"She (Montgomery) is coming on a little bit," Buvid said. "We need something from the bottom of the lineup. We need to be consistent in our lineup from top to bottom if we want to keep moving on."
Armstrong dominated in tossing a one-hit shutout to lead Monroe to a 10-0 six-inning win over the Cougars at Twining Park.
Monroe (17-7) has won 10 straight games and will host Edgerton in a regional semifinal on Tuesday.
"I knew I had to throw it harder and keep it down because that is what I will have to do against other teams," Armstrong said. "I thought I might as well practice it. Coach really reinforced that I use this game to build confidence for the next one. I went out and threw strikes and that is what happened."
Armstrong struck out 14 and walked just one. The Cougars had just four baserunners. Clinton senior Megan Lantz tripled with two outs in the first inning, but Armstrong struck out the next batter to end the threat.
"(Armstrong) was throwing with a cross wind," Monroe coach Dale Buvid said. "She had pretty good pace and location. She got a couple of strikeouts with rise balls. Her changeup was effective."
The Cheesemakers' offense was just as impressive as Armstrong's pitching. Monroe pounded out 13 hits and sophomore Taylor O'Leksy, who went 3-for-4, staked the Cheesemakers to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to left in the first.
The Cheesemakers broke the game open when they batted around in a seven-run fourth. Sophomore Ellie Grossen, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two stolen bases, singled up the middle. Chandra McGuire lined a single to left and Kayla Updike ripped an RBI double down the third base line to give the Cheesemakers a 4-0 lead. O'Leksy reached on an infield single and Kari Jordan reached on an error.
The Cheesemakers scored two more runs on a Cougar error and Grossen delivered a two-run single to center to give Monroe a 9-0 lead.
"I think we got used to the slower pitching," O'Leksy said. "Our team is used to faster pitching. We just had to continue to follow the ball with our eyes. I think we did that in the fourth inning. We work on hitting a lot in practice. We just keep on getting better in practice."
Buvid also noticed another big difference.
"A big part of scoring runs is getting the leadoff hitter on base," Buvid said. "In the first three innings we didn't do that."
He credited Grossen for setting the table in the big inning.
"Ellie has been better the second half of the season drawing walks and getting on base more consistently," he said. "It's hard to go from hitting a high rate of speed and adjusting to a slower pitcher. The more you see it the better you hit it. The third time through the order we started measuring it better."
Monroe senior Alyssa Montgomery went 2-for-3, McGuire finished 2-for-3 and Katie Holmes was 2-for-4.
"She (Montgomery) is coming on a little bit," Buvid said. "We need something from the bottom of the lineup. We need to be consistent in our lineup from top to bottom if we want to keep moving on."
