Elk Mound softball team wins nail-biter against Durand, split games in Arcadia

By Cara L. Dempski

If Elk Mound softball fans were looking for a good series of match-ups, then last week was definitely their kind of week.

The Mounders kicked off the week with a thriller of a win over the Durand Panthers April 18, when Elk Mound went eight innings against the Panthers to pick up the 10-8 win on a walk-off home run in a contest of Dunn-St. Croix unbeatens.

Three days later, Elk Mound opened a brief two-day, three-game road swing at rival Colfax and come up big in a 16-3 win last Friday, April 21.

Elk Mound rounded off the week with a trip to Arcadia the following day, where the team took on LaCrosse Aquinas’ Blugold and hometown Raiders softball teams. The Lady Mounders split, beating host Arcadia 7-1 before falling to LaCrosse Aquinas in a high-scoring affair, 14-12.

The Mounders, 6-0 atop the D-SC and 8-3 overall, have another busy week with six games scheduled in the next eight days. They returned home Monday to host Mondovi, traveled to Plum City yesterday, are home to take on Spring Valley Thursday before going to Bloomer on Friday and Elmwood next Monday, May 1.

Durand

Dear Durand: you can knock Elk Mound down, but do not ever count them out.

Mounder head coach Samantha Weix said her team got off to a slow start in its April 18 meeting with the Panthers, and it did not help that Durand rattled the Mounders even further by coming out aggressive and chalking up two runs right away in the first.

“It didn’t take long and the (Elk Mound) girls loosened up and found their groove,” Weix stated. “We went up 3-2 in second and 5-2 in the third.”

In what can only be described as a back-and-forth set of events, the Mounders found themselves trailing by a pair of runs in the seventh with two outs when senior slugger Emily Ausman stepped up to the plate with a single runner ahead of her on second.

Ausman dinged the ball over the head of the Durand center fielder to bring in the runner on second and raced home herself to knot the game up at seven and send it into extra innings.

Durand was not going to go down easy, and drove in another run in the eighth before Elk Mound had another turn at the plate. Hailey Blaskowski started the inning with a solo shot, and Sophie Cedarblade followed her onto base before Madysen Borofka slapped the walk-off homer into the outfield to give the Mounders the 10-8 win.

Borofka logged three RBIs in the game, while Blaskowski and Ausman accounted for two. Nigon and Allison Lindquist also batted in one runner apiece.

Hallum allowed three runs in her seven and two-thirds innings pitched, but logged five strikeouts. Nigon allowed five runs over 18 pitches in one-third inning.

DURAND 8, ELK MOUND 10
Durand……………….2  0  0  0  0  5  0  1 —    8
Elk Mound…………..0  3  2  0  0  0  2  3  — 10

Arcadia Tournament

The softball team from Elk Mound took a trip to Arcadia this past Saturday returning with a split after beating the host Raiders 7-1 and falling to the LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 14-12 in the night cap.

The Lady Mounders scored three runs in the first two innings against the Raider of Arcadia to cruise to the win.

The Mounders collected seven hits from seven different players and Kari Jo Nigon allowed six hits and a single run for the win.

ELK MOUND 7, ARCADIA 1
Arcadia………………….0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0 — 1
Elk Mound…………….3  3  0  0  0  0  1  0  — 7

The Lady Mounders and Blugolds softball teams combined for 26 runs and 33 hits in a wild contest at Arcadia last Saturday afternoon.

Elk Mound built an 11-4 advantage after three innings of action. Aquinas, however, would rally to score five runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead and the eventual victory.

Madysen Borofka  and Karie Jo Nigon each had three hits for the Mounders and Allison Lindquist added two hits and three RBIs in the loss.

Clare Hallum started on the mound for Elk Mound and went four and a third innings before giving way to Nigon in the fifth. Hallum surrendered 12 hits and 10 runs including a home run and four walks but it was Nigon who was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs on four hits and five walks in one and two-thirds innings of work.

LACROSSE AQUINAS 14, ELK MOUND 12
LaCrosse Aquinas…….2  0  2  0  5  5  0  — 14
Elk Mound……………….2  3  6  0  0  0  1  — 12