Lady Mounders earn win over Vikings, fall to Buffs and Rails; Colfax biten by E/PC Wolves

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by Marlys Kruger
Sport Correspondent

On the strength of 16 strikeouts by Elk Mound pitcher McKenna Diermeier, the Elk Mound softball team won the first game of the season for both teams by an 8-3 score over Colfax on the Viking’s home field Tuesday, April 27.

In back-to-back home contests, the Mounders lost to Mondovi 4-2 two days later, then shutout  Stanley-Boyd 9-0 on Friday, before finishing off a busy first week of action in Prescott with a 15-1 loss to Altoona. Elk Mound is 1-1 in D-SC play and 2-2 overall.

Colfax, now 0-2, dropped their second game of the week at home 14-5 against Elmwood/Plum City on Thursday, April 29.

Elk Mound has another full slate this week as they hosted Spring Valley Monday before taking to the road for games at Durand on Thursday, in Amery Friday, a Saturday tournament in Arcadia, and against Elmwood/Plum City in Elmwood next Monday, May 10.

Meanwhile, Colfax was in Glenwood City this past Monday (May 3) but returns for three straight home games beginning with Boyceville on Thursday, followed by Cameron on Friday, and Mondovi next Monday, May 10.

Elk Mound 8, Colfax 3

The Mounders took a 1-0 lead in their first at bat on a Colfax error and a bunt to bring the runner home. Colfax pitcher Anna Geissler then whiffed two Mounder batters to get out of the inning without any more damage.

The Vikings bounced back with a pair of runs in their half of the first inning, starting with a sharp single by Jada Anderson. Elk Mound pitcher McKenna Diermeier had a short bout of wildness, allowing Anderson to move to third on a couple of wild pitches and a walk to Bailey Bradford, who stole second. A missed third strike by the Mounder catcher allowed both runners to cross home, but Diermeier bore down and struck out the next two Vikings to end the inning.

Elk Mound started the second inning with a double, and a single by Hannah Larson brought the runner home to knot the score.

Diermeier then reared back and whiffed the side to end the second inning.

The Mounders tacked on three runs in the third on three singles and two walks for a 5-2 advantage, but the Vikings put two runners on in their half of the inning by a couple of singles with two outs before Diermeier struck out yet another Viking to end the threat.

Elk Mound added two more runs in the fourth inning and added another in the sixth while the Vikings managed just one more in the seventh when Anderson walloped a triple and scored on Bradford’s base hit. But, with two outs, Diermeier put the game away with her 16th strikeout to end the game.

Diermeier not only took control from the mound but she smacked three hits and scored four times. Kallee Rhude and Larson both belted three hits and Larson brought in a pair of runs.

Geissler took the loss for Colfax, allowing ten hits with three walks, but struck out 11 batters. Anderson and Bradford each had a pair of hits with Bradford collecting two RBIs.

Elmwood/Plum City 14, Colfax 5

Two days after the loss to Elk Mound, the Vikings struggled on the offensive side again, dropping a home game against Elmwood/Plum City 14-5.

The Wolves led 5-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning when Colfax broke through with three runs. Marissa Harmon reached on an error, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Anderson. Bradford slammed a triple to right field to bring her around, then scored herself on a wild pitch.

But, E/PC took advantage of several walks and a couple of hits to score four more times to lead 9-3.

The Vikings added another run in the bottom of the fifth when McKenna Shipman reached on a missed third strike, swiped second, move up on a passed ball and came home on a ground out by Harmon. Anderson smacked a triple but was left stranded on third base.

The Wolves tacked on five runs in the seventh and the Vikings went down in order to end the game.

The Vikings collected just three hits in the contest with 14 strikeouts, Geissler and Mallory Field split the pitching duties with Geissler absorbing the loss, allowing 11 runs with seven Ks and eight walks.

“The girls fought hard in both games,” Colfax coach John Dickinsen said.

“We had too many walks which cost us runs. We made better contact against E/PC but still struck out too many times. We are looking to keep getting better and putting more balls into play,” he added.

Mondovi 4, Elk Mound 2

It was a tight match all the way with the game scoreless after four innings of play as Elk Mound hosted Mondovi in its home opener last Thursday.

The Mounders broke through for a run in the top of the fifth but the Buffaloes countered with three in their half of the inning.

Mondovi added their final tally in the sixth and the Mounders managed to get another run in the top of the seventh but it was too little, too late.

McKenna Diermeier slammed a double and had a stolen base to lead on the offensive side, and struck out 11 Buffalo batters, allowing just four hits with one free pass.

Mounders play non-conference foes

Elk Mound found different results against a pair of non-conference foes.

The Lady Mounders, hosting its second consecutive home game in as many days, whitewashed the visiting Orioles of Stanley-Boyd 9-0 Friday, April 1.

Unfortunately, no other information or stats for the Stanley-Boyd contest were provided to the Messenger prior to the publication deadline.

In its third straight day of competition, Elk Mound traveled to Prescott on Saturday for a triangular meet.

In a contest against Altoona, the Lady Mounders surrendered 15 runs on 15 hits as the Railroaders rumbled by the Mounders 15-1.

Altoona scored three runs in the first, another in the third but flung open the flood gates in the fourth to score 11 times. Elk Mound’s lone run came in their half of the fourth.

Individual information for the Mounders’ game against Altoona and a score from the Prescott contest were not available at press time.