Bulldogs earn split, go 2-2 in softball games
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by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
Boyceville’s softball team made a valiant attempt to come from behind in a home game against Elmwood/Plum City May 3, but couldn’t get over the hump, taking a 9-6 loss to the Wolves.
They bounced back just three days later when they traveled to Colfax and came home with an 8-5 win over the Vikings in the May 6 contest.
Boyceville ended the week hosting a triangular this past Saturday at TCE where they also earned a non-conference split, losing 13-3 to Phillips and whipping Webster/Siren 14-1.
The Bulldogs, 2-2 in conference and 3-3 overall, have a busy slate this coming week having opened it with back-to-back home games against Spring Valley and Grantsburg on Monday and Tuesday, May 10 and 11, respectively. They then travel to Elk Mound on Thursday and will play in an invitational in Shell Lake on Saturday before returning home next Monday, May 17 to face Mondovi.
Elmwood/Plum City
The Wolves scored three times in the first inning and the Bulldogs were forced to play catch up through the rest of the game.
After three innings of play, Boyceville closed the gap and were down just 4-3 but the Wolves exploded for four runs in the top of the fourth and another in the sixth to up their lead to 9-3 in the May 3 game.
The Dogs put up single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Wolves’ lead.
Harper Olson batted 2-for-3 with an RBI, Kady Grambow was also 2-for-3 and scored twice, and Olivia Ponath went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Ella Holden pitched the entire game and allowed 10 hits with five strikeouts and two free passes in the loss.
Colfax
The Bulldogs must have been watching reruns of “The Big Bang Theory” as they used a trio of home runs to score five of their runs during the game.
They started off with a run in the first when they loaded the bases on hits by Hannah Dunn and Ponath, along with a walk to Libby Bygd. A ground ball forced the runner out at home but the throw to first was off the mark and Ponath came home on the play.
Colfax had a runner on base in the first and second innings but Holden struck out two of the batters in the first and three in the second to keep them off the board.
Ponath reached on a fielder’s choice in the third, and Bygd came up and slammed a ball over the left-centerfield fence for a two-run tator and a 3-0 Bulldog lead.
Colfax made a game of it, scoring four runs to take the lead at the end of three innings, but that didn’t phase the Bulldogs as they re-took the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth.
Hailey Hellendrung started things by taking a walk, Madison Andrews reached on an error, Dunn singled, Ponath drew a free pass, Bygd singled and, after several throwing errors by the Vikings, three Bulldogs had crossed the plate and it was 6-4 in their favor.
Hellendrung led off the sixth with a towering shot over the centerfield fence, and with two outs, Dunn smacked her own long ball out of the park to increase the Bulldogs lead to 8-4.
Colfax scored a run in the sixth on a hit and a Boyceville error but Holden slammed the door with a strikeout, and after giving up a hit in the seventh, Holden and the defense finished things off with a strike out and a couple of fly ball outs.
Dunn had a pretty good day at the plate, batting 4-for-5 with a double and a home run, scoring twice and bringing in two runners. Bygd was 2-for-2 with a long ball and drew three walks with three RBIs and Hellendrung scored twice and brought in a run on her own homer. Olson and Andrews both had a hit and Holden added a hit with an RBI.
Holden gave up only five hits, striking out seven Vikings and walking just two of them for the win.
Home Triangular
The Bulldogs fell into a big hole early when Phillips scored six times in the top of the first inning. The Loggers upped the advantage to 10-0 before Boyceville came up with a run in the bottom of the third inning.
Phillips added three more runs in the fourth however, and the final two Bulldog runs weren’t enough to keep the game going and it ended in five innings.
Grambow collected two of Boyceville’s six hits while Ponath, Bygd, Lagerstrom, and Reisimer all had one with Ponath’s a double. Lagerstrom, Olson, and Ponath each brought a runner home.
Holden was the pitcher of record, giving up eight hits with three strikeouts and five walks.
Against Webster/Siren, the Bulldogs scored early and often in the second contest of their triangular at TCE.
Boyceville scored five runs in the first inning, two in the second, four more in the third and added the trifecta in the fourth en route to a 14 to 1 romp in five innings over the visiting Webster/Siren cooperative.
The Bulldogs made plenty of contact with the softball against Webster/Siren pitching. Hannah Dunn and Libby Bygd both finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and Bygd score three times in the blowout. Madison Andrews, Olivia Ponath, and Ella Holden each had a pair of hits for Boyceville who finished with 15 in all.
Holden also picked up the mound victory, starting and going four innings allowing just a single run on five hits and two walks with three Ks. Alison McRoberts pitched an inning of relief surrendering just one hit.