Lady Mounders split with Pepin, trample Toppers

With a full schedule last week, the Elk Mound softball team continued on their quest for a conference championship. Starting Monday, May 6, the big showdown with league leading Pepin/Alma took place on the Mounders’ field, resulting in a split as the Eagles won the first game 4-1, and Elk Mound came back with a 6-4 win in the nightcap. The Mounders followed up by trouncing the Glenwood City Hilltoppers 16-1 and 16-2 a day later. Two games against Boyceville were rained out May 9 but they took a pair of games against Colfax then finished 1-1 in a tournament in Arcadia Saturday. (Colfax story is elsewhere in the sports section).

Pepin-Game 1

With the Eagles leading the conference by one game over Elk Mound, these games were pretty much  a must win to keep the Mounders in contention for the crown. They fell short however as they managed to get only four singles off Pepin pitcher Breanna Ellinson and struck out seven times, coming up with their only run on an  RBI coming from Dayna Kotecki to tie the game in the third inning. The Eagles scored a run to regain the lead in the fourth and added two insurance runs in the fifth to seal the win.

Kotecki pitched all five innings, allowing five hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

Pepin/Alma    0  1  0  1  2 – 4
Elk Mound     0  0  1  0  0 – 1

Game 2

With the score tied 1-1 after two innings, the Mounders came up with three runs in the third as Kaysi Meindel sent a ground ball to the infield and ended up at second base via a throwing error. Becca Kopp dropped a hit over first for an RBI and Kotecki sent a shot through the middle to put runners on second and third. Katie Bergh grounded out but Kopp scored on the play and McKenna Borofka brought Kotecki in with a basehit to right field for a 4-1 Mounder lead.

The Eagles pecked away however, adding single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to tie it up at 4-4, and in the extra inning, Elk Mound came up with a pair of runs for the win.

Kopp finished with three hits and brought in three runs and scored twice while Meindel also came home twice. Kotecki took the win, giving up seven hits with three Ks and five walks.

Elk Mound     1  0  3  0  0  2 – 6
Pepin/Alma    1  0  1  1  1  0 – 4

Glenwood City-Game 1

The Mounders collected 13 hits in the game and held an 11-1 lead after three innings. They tacked on five more to put the game away for good in the fourth. Meindel, Kopp, Kylynn Simon and Kotecki all had a pair of hits and Kopp knocked in four runs, Simon brought in three more and Meindel scored three times. Morgan Polden pitched the whole game and gave up just four hits with two strikeouts and two walks for the victory.

Elk Mound         0  6  5  5  0 – 16
Glenwood City   0  0  1  0  1 – 2

Game 2

The hits just kept coming as Elk Mound pounded out 19 in this game with Kotecki leading the way, batting 4 for 4 with a two base hit in the mix with three RBI. Bergh was also perfect at the plate, smacking a trio of hits in three at bats with two RBI, Maddy Polden finished 3 for 4 and Kopp was 2 for 4 with a double. Lexi DeLong threw her first complete game, picking up the win by giving up six hits with two strikeouts and four walks,

Glenwood City   0  0  2  0  0 – 2
Elk Mound      3  7  2  4  0 – 16

Holman

On a blustery morning, Elk Mound opened the tournament against Holman and lost 5-1. The Mounders scored their only run in the first inning on an RBI double by Kotecki and held the slim lead until the fourth inning. Holman knotted things up and went ahead with a run in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. As a team, the Mounders collected just four hits in the game. Kotecki gave up nine hits with four strikeouts and two walks to absorb the loss.

Elk Mound  1  0  0  0  0  0  0 – 1
Holman     0  0  0  1  1  3  X – 5

Cochrane-Fountain City

Elk Mound bounced back with a 6-4 win over the Pirates. Further information was not available at press time.