Bulldog softballers fall to Pepin/Alma, sweep doubleheader against Plum City

By Cara L. Dempski

The final week of the Dunn-St. Croix softball season was a busy one filled with ups and downs for the Boyceville squad.

Playing five games, well technically four and a half if you chose to count the conclusion of Boyceville’s suspended game with rival Glenwood City as a half, in just four days, the Bulldogs  started slowly but caught fire.

The week got off to a slow start as Boyceville suffered a 9-3  home loss on Monday, May 15 to Pepin/Alma after the Eagles reeled in five runs in the top of the first inning to take a decisive lead from which the Bulldogs did not recover.

The following evening, the team headed to Glenwood City to finish a game started April 25 before playing their second game of the season afterward. The Bulldogs took an 8-5 lead into the final innings of the game before falling to the Hilltoppers 11-8. They came back in the night cap to win 9-7 in nine innings.

Boyceville then returned to Pafko Park for its final D-SC and regular season games of 2017 against Plum City. The May 18 doubleheader saw the Bulldogs go 2-0 against the Blue Devils after winning the first game 8-0 and the second 16-2 to wind up fifth in the D-SC with a 10-8 record and 13-9 overall.

Boyceville opened  WIAA Division 4 regional play yesterday (May 23) at home. The  eighth- seeded Bulldogs host ninth-seeded Chetek-Weyerhaeuser at Pafko Memorial Park. The winner of the game is scheduled to play number-one seed Phillips at 4:45 p.m. today (May 24). The regional final is Friday.

Pepin/Alma

It is never a good sign when a runner from the opposing team bowls over your catcher and she does not get back up right away.

There were some tense moments in the first inning of Boyceville’s May 15 home contest against Pepin/Alma after Brooklyn Hellmann tried to take a runner at home for an out and instead wound up flat on her back.

The senior sat up after nearly 30 seconds on the ground, and stood up after approximately one minute. The athletic trainer checked her head, shoulder, elbow and wrist strength before walking away as Hellmann slipped her mask back over her face and took her place behind the plate once more.

Despite dinging out a few hits in the game, the Bulldogs could not recover from the early runs from the Eagles and fell to the visiting team 9-3.

Pepin/Alma put up another two runs in the third inning, and another in the fourth to lead the game 8-0. Boyceville kept the Eagles in check for the fifth before the visitors scored yet again in the fifth to lead 9-0 as both teams stepped into the sixth.

The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning with runs from Tyra Kostman, McKenna Weber and Tori Kostman with one out. Hellmann and Morgan Kuhn then got on base, but were stranded there after Madysn Riek popped a fly ball that was caught in center field and Marissa Dormanen was ruled out at first.

Boyceville kept the Eagles scoreless in the top of the seventh, but could not add any more runs to their own score, and took the loss

Hellmann and Tyra Kostman logged a double apiece, while Tori Kostman, Kuhn and Riek all recorded one RBI each.

Tyra worked seven innings, allowing 10 hits and nine runs while striking out four.

PEPIN/ALMA 9, BOYCEVILLE 3
Pepin/Alma…………..5  0  2  1  0  1  0 — 9
Boyceville…………….0  0  0  0  0  3  0 — 3

Plum City

The Lady Bulldogs finished their conference season looking confident and strong.

Boyceville belted 29 hits and scored 24 runs to sweep the May 18 doubleheader against Plum City by scores of 8-0 and 16-2.

The opening game win was highlighted by freshman pitcher Tyra Kostman’s first no-hitter. Kostman retired 20 of the 22 Blue Devil hitters she faced including 15 straight to start the game and allowed just two walks and had a pair of strike outs in the big win.

The Boyceville offense gave Kostman plenty of support as it banged out 13 hits in the game one win.

The Bulldogs scored one in the third, two in the fourth, and five in the sixth for the 8-0 win to go 2-0 over the Devils this season.

Marissa Dormanen and Kostman sent home a pair of runners each in the second game, while Morgan Kuhn, McKenna Weber and Tori Kostman each logged an RBI in the game.

Dormanen, who has been swinging a hot bat of late, went three-for-three at the plate while Kuhn, Tyra Kostman, Kyla Hoff and Weber each finished with a pair of hits.

The nightcap was fairly close with the Bulldogs holding a 4-2 led through the first four innings. But Boyceville drove home 12 runs in the top of the fifth inning to end the game, 16-2.

The Boyceville girls got on the board in the top of the second in the first game with a pair of runs. 

The Blue Devils opted not to be completely outdone, and scored one run of their own to trail by just 2-1 as both teams moved into the third.

The Bulldogs tacked up another run while holding the Plum City ladies in check to take a 3-1 lead into the fourth inning.

Both teams added a single run in the fourth, making the score 4-2 when the Lady Dogs’ bats started to sizzle, resulting in a 12-run fifth-inning that the Blue Devils could not match.

Dormanen again had three hits including a double as did Hoff, Kuhn and Tyra Kostman, who finished with a pair.

Kostman worked two innings on the mound, allowing three hits, one run, and a strike out before tiring. Alyx Bloom took over for the final three innings, striking out two and allowing four hits and one run.

BOYCEVILLE 16, PLUM CITY 2 
Boyceville………………..0  2  1  1  12 — 16
Plum City…………………0  1  0  1  0   —   5

PLUM CITY 0, BOYCEVILLE 8
Plum City……………..0  0  0  0  0  0  0 — 0
Boyceville…………….0  0  1  2  0  5  0 — 8