Mounders’ firepower too much for stout Viking defense

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX — In softball and baseball, if you bring a big bat, you really need to bring a strong defense too.

It was a lesson Elk Mound apparently took to heart against the Vikings in the rivals softball contest in Colfax April 21.

It took until the fourth inning of the game for either team to score, and then the Mounders’ bats came alive, pushing in six runs to take the 6-0 lead. Coach Samantha Weix said the team struggled early, and did not close out as effectively as she would have liked.

“It’s easy to relax when you’re up some runs, but we still can’t give up three runs at the end of a game,” Weix explained. “The girls recognize this as an area we have to get better in, and they’re ready to meet expectations.”

The Vikings put up a strong early defense against Elk Mound, but coach Richard Meredith said his team made some errors in the fourth and fifth innings that cracked the door open for Elk Mound and led to its 16-3 win over Colfax in the first rivalry match-up between the two teams this season.

“Colfax will be working hard to clean up our game defensively, and continue to work on hitting the ball offensively,” Meredith noted. “I know we can turn the table on Elk Mound next time we meet.”

The Mounders and Vikings were at a stalemate at the end of the third inning, with the pitchers and outfield doing most of the work. It was not until the fourth inning when Elk Mound’s batters started to make life hard for Colfax.

The team in orange and black chalked up six runs in the inning before Colfax managed its escape and tried to put some points of its own on the scoreboard. The Mounders put out Hailey Durand-Christianson at first and struck Becca Lee out swinging. The Vikings might still have had a second wind for the inning, but Kaitlyn Field got stuck between third and home when Lee struck out and was tagged out to end the inning.

Colfax managed to stave the Mounders off until the sixth, when the Elk Mound girls drilled enough hits to pick up another 10 runs, making the score 16-0.

The Vikings were not going to give up without a fight, though, and managed to find a chink in Elk Mound’s defensive armor. Dailyn Mortenson was sent home on a hit from Tamara Huffman, while Kameri Meredith batted in Mikaela Leibfried and Hailey Durand-Christianson sent Huffman all the way around.

MaKayla Mattson took the Vikings’ first out of the sixth inning at second, and Durand-Christianson was called out at first, which set up Field for a last-ditch effort to keep Colfax alive. The sophomore slapped a line drive right to Elk Mound pitcher Clare Hallum, who scooped up the ball and flipped it to Lauren Scharlau at first base to end the game.

Meredith said his young team is still working out some kinks, but knows the Vikings will be in the mix as time goes on.

SUUUUH-WING — Colfax batter Hailey Durand-Christianson pulled the bat around on a pitch from Mounder freshman Clare Hallum during the Vikings’ April 21 home loss to Elk Mound. —photo by Cara L. Dempski

Elk Mound held a ten to five advantage in hits over Colfax. Karie Jo Nigon went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Mounders with two RBIs and three runs scored and Emily Ausman had a pair of hits. Hailey Blaskowski and Allison Lindquist and four and three RBIs respectively for Elk Mound.

Kaitlyn Dield, Kameri Meredith, Jozie Buchanan, MaKayla Mattson and Hailey Durand-Christianson had the hits for Colfax.

Clare Hallum went six innings on the mound for Elk Mound and was the victor having given up just three runs on five hits. Jozie Buchanan suffered the pitching loss for Colfax.

The Vikings traveled to Spring Valley April 24 before hosting Elmwood April 25. The team will attend the 2017 athletic banquet April 26 before welcoming Pepin/Alma to their field April 27. They are scheduled for a May 1 trip to Glenwood City.

Elk Mound hosted Mondovi April 24, and went to Plum City April 25. The Mounders welcome Spring Valley to their home field April 27, and are scheduled to play a road game at Bloomer April 28. They will head to Elmwood May 1.

The Vikings are currently 2-3 in the Dunn-St. Croix, while Elk Mound is 6-0.

ELK MOUND 16, COLFAX 3
Elk Mound……………0  0  0  6  0  10 — 16
Colfax………………….0  0  0  0  0  3   —   3