EM softball repeat as D-SC conference champs

By Cara L. Dempski

They have done it again.

When Mounders senior softball players Elizabeth Bauer, Karie Jo Nigon, Lauren Scharlau, Kirstin Dutzle, Baylee Hanson and Emily Ausman walked across the stage for their May 19 graduation, it was with the knowledge that their varsity softball team had copped its third straight Dunn-St. Croix softball championship.

That’s not too shabby for a group of girls who saw the team take second place their freshman year of high school.

Elk Mound capped the final week of the regular season with a pair of conference victory to run its current win streak to ten games this year and 49 straight in the Dunn-St. Croix dating back to late in the 2014 season.

The Mounders, who have went unbeaten in conference play the past three years (18-0, 13-0, and 17-0 this year) earned a close win at Mondovi last Monday, May 15 as Elk Mound won with a clutch hit off the bat of Hailey Blaskowski in the seventh.

The Black and Orange squad headed home for a second match-up with the Blue Devils the next day.

The Lady Mounders won the May 16 contest 11-1 after scoring five runs in the sixth in what turned out to be the regular season finale.

A game against Spring Valley May 18 was cancelled, as the Mounders ended the season 17-0 and 4.5 games cushion on second-place Durand.

The Elk Mound softball team finished its 2017 D-SC season with a perfect record for the third year in a row. They are the third seed in the WIAA’s Division 3 Bloomer Sectional. The Mounders earned a first-round bye, and are scheduled to take on Durand at Elk Mound May 24.

Mondovi

Elk Mound softball coach Samantha Weix opened her comments about the May 15 6-5 win at Mondovi with some compliments for the Lady Buffaloes.

“Both teams played a very solid game,” Weix led off with. “We consistently put the ball in play with hard hits, but Mondovi made some great defensive plays.”

The Mounder coach said she also felt the Buffs ran the bases aggressively and took every opportunity presented to move forward a base. It gave the team in orange and black a different feel, since it was forced to play from behind until late in the game.

Elk Mound’s will to win shone through, though, in the seventh when freshman Hailey Blaskowski stepped up to the plate with Karie Jo Nigon standing at third and Clare Hallum on first. The third-base player sent a double down the right-center alley to send the duo already on base all the way home.

All that was left was to hold the Mondovi ladies scoreless in the bottom half of the inning. Enter the Mounder defense, who earned all three outs without giving the Buffs a chance to get all the way around to score and keep the Elk Mound team perfect as it stared down its final two games of the season.

Junior catcher Allison Lindquist topped the Mounder offense with a home run and a pair of RBIs, while Blaskowski sent home a pair of runners and recorded a double. Senior Kirstin Dutzle also logged a pair of RBIs in the game.

Hallum recorded five hits and five runs in the circle, but struck out seven batters in seven innings’ worth of work.

ELK MOUND 6, MONDOVI 5
Elk Mound……………0  1  2  0  0  1  2 — 6
Mondovi………………0  2  3  0  0  0  0 — 5

Plum City

The Devils were definitely blue when they left Elk Mound May 16.

The Plum City team suffered an 11-1 loss to the Mounder girls that allowed the home squad to stay on top of the D-SC with only one game left to play before tournament play.

The Blue Devils managed to mitigate Elk Mound’s considerable offense for two innings, before the Mounders got on board with three in the third. The home team then went scoreless in the fourth before picking up three more runs in the fifth and five in the sixth to lead 11-1 for the win.

The Plum City girls were not able to score until the sixth, when Olivia Miller sent Jessica Martin around to score the team’s only run.

Senior Emily Ausman provided a home run and trio of RBIs, while Karie Jo Nigon added a second home run and batted one runner in. Sophie Cedarblade, a freshman, logged two runs batted in and a double in the game. Kirstin Dutzle and Madysen Borofka contributed one more RBI each.

Clare Hallum continued her formidable rookie season by going six innings in the circle, striking out four and allowing just two hits and one run.

PLUM CITY 1, ELK MOUND 11
Plum City……………….0  0  0  0  0  1 —   1
Elk Mound……………..0  0  3  0  3  5 — 11