Mounders softball splits opening games against Crickets and Blackhawks
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By Amber Hayden
Even with the fields far from perfect, the Elk Mound girls’ softball opened its 2019 season last week with non-conference road games against the Fall Creek Crickets and the Bloomer Blackhawks.
The Mounders kicked off their 2019 softball campaign with a dominating 12-2 win over the Crickets in Fall Creek last Tuesday, April 2. Elk Mound jumped to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning and continued to add to it throughout the contest to post the 10-run victory.
Two days later, Elk Mound traveled to Bloomer for a Thursday, April 4 showdown against the Blackhawks as rain, sleet and finally snow began to fall on the players. It was a tough outing for the Mounders as Bloomer scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take an early lead. Elk Mound’s rally, however, came up a run short as it lost 9-8 to the Bloomer.
The Friday evening, April 5 conference opener that was to take place against Spring Valley was postponed and moved to April 22.
The Mounders traveled to Colfax this past Monday, April 8, to begin their Dunn-St. Croix conference slate against the rival Vikings. After a two day break, Elk Mound will travel to Arkansaw to take on the Durand Panthers on Thursday, April 11, followed by a game on Friday, April 12, in Boyceville against the Bulldogs. Elk Mound will travel to Plum City to take on the Wolves on Monday, April 15, and wrap up a busy week of play with a home game against Glenwood City on Tuesday, April 16.
But keep a close eye on the schedule for changes and postponements as a spring snow storm is forecast to hit the region beginning today (Wednesday, April 10) and running through the morning hours of Friday.
Fall Creek
Mounders softball began the new season with a bang as they took a 12-2 victory over the Fall Creek Crickets last Tuesday evening, April 2.
“Last night’s game was a great start to the season,” said acting head coach McKayla Brunner. “It was good for the girls to get out to a 4-0 lead right away in the top of the first.”
With the early four- run lead, it gave the Lady Mounder’s defense a bit of a cushion under less than ideal field conditions.
Elk Mound continued to build on their lead throughout the game with a single run in the fourth inning and wrapping up the game with seven runs in the fifth inning to enforce the 10-run rule which brought an end to the game.
“Clare Hallum had a great first game on the mound as did all our players in their position,” Brunner said. “Only one hiccup inning which was expected being first game of the season, but we bounced back well and regained momentum to finish the game clean.”
Bloomer
The weather wasn’t favorable for the Mounders last Thursday evening, April 4, as rain mixed with snow fell on the field leaving Elk Mound fighting to come back against the Blackhawks. The Mounders rally fell short in a 8-9 loss to Bloomer.
“Though the weather was not in our favor it wasn’t an excuse,” said acting head coach McKayla Brunner. “The girls battled a great game and Bloomer is a very good team.
Elk Mound was able to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Bloomer took advantage of some second-inning defensive blunders by the Mounders to take a five-run lead.
Both the Mounders and Blackhawks battled on defense in order to keep any further runs from scoring until the fifth inning, when Elk Mound was able to bounce back and score four runs to make it a 6-5 score.
The Mounders had key hits from Orianna Horel, Morgan Radtke, Clare Hallum and Abby Curry.
Bloomer came back at the bottom of the sixth inning to score two more runs, but Elk Mound fought back to make it a tied game at eight all.
“The girls were a great brick wall in the bottom of the sixth to keep them scoreless,” said Brunner. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get one around the bases in the seventh.”
In the bottom of the seventh inning. Bloomer had a solid hit to right field that scored the game-winning run for the 9-8 final.