Boyceville softball upset in regionals
FORCED OUT — Emma Ouelette, Boyceville second baseman, stepped on the bag at second to force out an Augusta base runner during last Wednesday’s regional softball contest at Pafko Park. Augusta ended Boyceville’s season with a 5-3 win. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Missy Klatt
BOYCEVILLE – After playing well all season and being seeded #2 in the region, the Lady Bulldogs were looking forward to a long run in the playoffs. With a first round bye in the tournament, the Bulldogs were set to play #7 seed, the Augusta Beavers on Wednesday, May 23rd. What they weren’t expecting was to be upset by said team as they lost 3-5.
Head coach Jamie Olson summed up the game by saying, “we picked the wrong game to be flat. Not sure where to start, but it was very disappointing from start to finish. We were by far the better team, it just wasn’t meant to be that night.”
Defensively the Bulldogs only allowed three Augusta batters to come to the plate in both the first and second inning and four in the third inning. However they seemed to struggle offensively. In the first inning with two outs Marissa Dormanen hit a double to centerfield but was then left stranded on second as the next batter grounded out.
In the bottom of the second Hannah Johnson and Emma Ouellette both had singles and Kanako Nakamoto was walked but still the Bulldogs couldn’t turn those into runs. In the bottom of the third the Bulldogs were the first to get on the board when Amber Retzloff was walked and later scored. But that was all the scoring for the inning as the Dawgs again left runners stranded on the bases.
Top of the fourth Augusta knocked in three runs due in part to some errors by the Bulldogs. Bottom of the fourth the Lady Dawgs once again left runners on base. Top of the fifth, Tyra Kostman shut down the Beavers with three straight strikes.
In the bottom of the fifth Bulldog lead batter, Johnson got on base with a single and later scored off an RBI single from Ouellette. But that was all they could muster for the inning. The Beavers were still leading, 3-2.
BOYCEVILLE’S Hannah Johnson picked up one of the two hits she had in the Bulldogs’ WIAA Division 4 regional softball game against Augusta at Pafko Park on May 23. Johnson went 2-for-3 at the plate but second-seeded Boyceville was upset by the Beavers, 5-3, to bring an end to its season. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
With three hits and a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, the Beavers were able to add two more runs to their total. In the bottom half of the inning Kylie Krueger got things started with a single and then was able to advance to second on a passed ball. Retzloff then sent her home with a double. After two quick outs Kostman hit a long double to centerfield but she was left stranded on second as Johnson struck out for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh it was a three and out inning for the Beavers but unfortunately for the Bulldogs they couldn’t get anything going in the bottom half of the inning, thus losing the game 5-3 and ending their dreams of going further in the playoffs.
Coach Olson concluded, “We had a great season and came very close to winning our first ever conference championship. I will miss my four seniors. I give Krueger and Dormanen a lot of credit for coming back after ACL surgeries and earning all-conference honors. Weber moved from being a great outfielder to shortstop and also earned all-conference honors. It was sad to see her play her last game with the flu. Dunn was a true teammate and stuck with me for 4 years. She didn’t get to play a lot, but was very important in our team chemistry. What a great kid! We return a great nucleus of girls, and I look forward to this summer and getting back on the field.”