Lady Bulldogs split doubleheader with Colfax, nip Mondovi

By Cara L. Dempski

Playing softball can be exhausting. Especially if a team is scheduled to play a doubleheader.

The Boyceville squad did just that last Tuesday, May 2 in Colfax. The Bulldogs earned a split with the Vikings, losing the first game 8-4 but rallied to win the second 5-4.

The Bulldogs then hosted Mondovi on Thursday, May 4.

Boyceville traded shots with the Lady Buffaloes throughout the contest but wound up on the top side of a 9-8 score to get the regular season split with Mondovi.

The Lady Bulldogs lost 14-5 on the road to conference unbeaten Elk Mound Monday, May 8 and sits at 5-5 in the D-SC and 8-6 overall. Details of the Elk Mound contest were not available at press time. 

Boyceville was scheduled to host Spring Valley yesterday. The team will hit the road again May 11 to take on Elmwood.

Boyceville will then host a pair of conference foes, taking on Durand Friday, May 12 and Pepin/Alma next Monday, May 15. The Bulldogs will complete their earlier suspended game against Glenwood City at the Hilltoppers’ home field May 16 before playing a full game for the second match-up between the two teams this season.

Colfax

Bulldog softball head coach Jamie Olson said his team had a frustrating night at the plate when playing in Colfax May 2.

“We were just off, couldn’t track the ball or get our timing down,” Olson stated. “We played OK defense, and our pitching was good enough for us to win both.”

The Boyceville softball squad lost its first game to Colfax 8-4, but won the second 5-4 thanks to a game-winning double off the bat of Marissa Dormanen.

Neither team scored in the first inning of the opening game, but Colfax saw two runners cross the plate in the second to make the score 2-0 at the end of the inning. The Bulldog defense held the Vikings runless in the third, but the offense could not score until the fourth.

GETTING IT IN — Boyceville sophomore Jaida Peterson pulls back to throw the ball to her infield cutoff during the second game of a May 2 doubleheader at Colfax. The Bulldogs dropped the first game 8-4, but won the second 5-4 thanks to a walk-off double from Marissa Dormanen. —photo by Cara L. Dempski

Then, Madysn Riek dinged a double to left field and made it safely to base, and Marissa Dormanen pushed her home on a line drive past Colfax short stop Kameri Meredith.

Colfax put up another run in the bottom of the fourth, and then scored four more in the fifth to make the score 8-1 as both teams moved to the sixth inning. No more runners crossed the plate until the seventh, when Dormanen, McKenna Weber and Jaida Peterson all scored runs to make the score 8-4. Riek’s fly to left-center was caught for the third out to end the game.

Once again, the Vikings were the first to get on the scoreboard in the second game when Kameri Meredith made it around to score. 

Colfax pitcher Tamara Huffman walked Morgan Kuhn to open the bottom of the first, but then Amber Retzloff popped an infield fly for the first out, and Riek was struck out swinging while Dormanen struck out looking to end the inning.

Jozie Buchanan and Amanda Christianson scored a pair of runs in the second to lift the Vikings to 3-0 before the Bulldogs got their turn in the bottom.

Kayla Hoff, McKenna Weber and Brooklyn Hellman faced Huffman, who got three outs.

The Bulldogs appeared to find their defensive stride in the third, getting outs off Kaitlyn Field, Becca Lee and Buchanan to try and put some runs on the board.

Boyceville scored one run in the bottom of the third when Taylor Grambow raced home to make the score 3-1.

Neither team put up a run in the fourth inning, but Hailey Durand-Christianson scored with only one out to increase Colfax’s lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth. Kuhn and Peterson scored in the bottom of the inning to make the score 4-3, and suddenly the Bulldogs had an opening.

Boyceville scored again in the sixth inning to tie the game at 4 before Marissa Dormanen stepped up to bat in the bottom of the seventh and let fly with a fly ball to right field that drove Retzloff home for the 5-4 win.

Dormanen led the team with four runners batted in the second game. Peterson earned two RBIs in the first game, and Grambow sent home one runner in the second.

Amber Retzloff had two hits in game one for the Bulldogs while Dormanen recorded two in the second contest. Boyceville had just ten hits in the two games – six in the first one and four in the second.

Tyra Kostman pitched both games, giving up for 15 hits, 12 runs, and had seven strikeouts in earning the split.

BOYCEVILLE 4, COLFAX 8
Boyceville……………..0  0  0  1  0  0  3 — 4
Colfax…………………..0  2  0  1  5  0  0 — 8

COLFAX 4, BOYCEVILLE 6
Colfax……………………1  2  0  0  1  0  0 — 4
Boyceville………………0  0  1  0  2  1  2 — 6

Mondovi

In a back-and-forth argument, a lot of people think the one who gets in the last word is the one who wins.

There is no question that is the case in softball, as Boyceville proved May 4 at home against Mondovi. The Lady Bulldogs scored three runs in the fifth before holding the Lady Buffaloes scoreless for a 9-8 win to move to 5-4 in the D-SC.

Visiting Mondovi got on the board first with a run from Paige Marsh in the top of the seventh, but the Bulldogs nipped the Buffaloes later in the inning when Kayla Hoff and McKenna Weber scored to give Boyceville a 2-1 lead.

The visiting team must have taken offense at that, since they scored three times in the third to retake the lead 4-2. The Bulldogs could not get their offensive play going, and ended the inning trailing by two.

The Buffaloes then tacked on another four runs to open the fourth, leaving the Bulldogs in their dust 8-2. The Boyceville bats finally started to heat up, and Weber, Tyra Kostman, Taylor Grambow and Brooklyn Hellmann all scored in the fifth to cut Mondovi’s lead to 8-6.

Morgan Kuhn, Kostman and Hellmann ran across the plate again in the sixth to finally lift the Boyceville squad over the Mondovi girls with a score of 9-8 before holding on for the win.

Senior Madysn Riek led the offense with a pair each of RBIs and doubles, while Hellmann batted in three and recorded a double. Kostman logged a pair of runs batted in, and Morgan Kuhn accounted for one RBI.

Kostman spent seven innings in the circle and pitched for seven hits, eight runs, and four strikeouts.

MONDOVI 8, BOYCEVILLE 9
Mondovi………………..0  1  3  4  0  0  0 — 8
Boyceville………………0  2  0  4  3  0  0 — 9