Bulldogs Win Packerland Conference Title

The Peshtigo Bulldogs rolled through the regular season to a 23-0 record and a 16-0 Packerland Conference tally.
The Bulldogs outscored opponents 179 to 32 in Packerland play. They beat Sevastopol 8-6, Algoma 6-5, and Southern Door 4-3 for some of their closest tests.
“All three of those teams have been traditionally good, and since we’ve joined this conference, they’ve always given us good games,” Peshtigo coach Matt LaCoursiere said. “We survived the test and the girls persevered.”
This was the Bulldogs’ first Packerland title since joining the conference.
“It’s an accomplishment that we wanted to achieve, so it’s a check-off on our box, and we’ve got other goals to get now,” LaCousiere said. Pursuit of those other goals begun with an 8-0 playoff-opening win over Clintonville on Tuesday behind seven no-hit innings from Bethany Ahrens.
Seniors Allison Peters and Ahrens split the season in the circle and batted near the top of the lineup all year.
“Our pitching is outstanding. We’ve shown two good pitchers, but in reality I have three that not a lot of people have seen,” LaCoursiere said. “Our top two pitchers are outstanding. The girls play with composure. We’ve been in big games before and we just didn’t get rattled and we stayed with it.”
Akira Smalls, Faythe Rich, Jaci Tonn, Presley Plym, and Avery Kehoe are also seniors.
“Their class is athletic and their hard work is why we’re doing what we’re doing,” LaCoursiere said.
Freshman Nevaeh Russell has also stepped into the two-spot in the lineup, consistently starting along with fellow freshman Neela Sotka.
“We’ve got two freshmen starting, and I’ve watched them both for about two, three summers now. I was aware of what they can do,” LaCoursiere said. “The only worry was they are freshmen, but I don’t want to say it’s a surprise. To their credit, they’ve stepped up, and they’ve done more than fill the void we needed to fill.”
The Bulldogs will look for freshmen and seniors alike to step up as they continue to make their push to state this postseason.

Ahrens Leads Bulldogs
Past Truckers in
Tourney Opener

Bethany Ahrens was untouchable and the top three hitters in the Peshtigo order combined for seven runs as the Bulldogs beat Clintonville in regionals, 8-0.
Ahrens staked herself to a 3-0 lead in the first inning with a three-run home run that scored Allison Peters and Nevaeh Russell, and that was all the run support she’d need.
She struck out 15 batters in seven innings, working around three walks. She walked the first two hitters in the fifth inning, but responded with three swinging strikeouts.
“She’s starting to hit her stride on the mound,” Peshtigo coach Matt LaCoursiere said. “She does get a little tired in the middle of the games, but boy did she pull out of it. When she’s on, we’re going to be really tough to beat.”
At the plate, she was 2-2 with four RBIs, two runs, and two walks from the three-spot. Allison Peters, the Bulldog leadoff hitter, was 3-4 with three runs and Russell, the two-hitter, walked three times and scored twice.
“Our top of the order had a great day today. The great part about our whole order is when one part of the order struggles, the other part picks it up,” LaCoursiere said. “Today was the top of the order’s day, but in the past, we’ve had the middle pick it up, we’ve had the bottom pick it up. The top of the order was outstanding today.”
Tuesday’s win was just another step in what has been a great season for Peshtigo, which finished the regular season with a perfect record and cruised to a Packerland Conference championship.
Next up for the top-seeded Bulldogs is No. 5 seed Wrightstown at home on Thursday.
“We had a great crowd today,” LaCoursiere said. “It was great support, so hopefully we can keep it rolling on Thursday.”

Marines Advance
to Regional Final;
Stop Panthers 1-0

It doesn’t get much more stressful than a 1-0 playoff softball game, and that was the scenario Tuesday as Marinette and Oconto Falls played a tight playoff opener in Marinette.
The No. 4 Marines came away with the win from a run scored in the third inning, when Barrett Cole walked and scored on a sacrifice fly to left from Wynn Erdman.
The Marines had just two hits in the game. The Panthers had three, with two coming from Ashlyn Allen.
The Panthers got two one-out hits in the sixth inning but Erdman, the Marinette pitcher, got two popouts to end the threat.
She faced one more challenge in the seventh when Keira Cole walked to start the inning and was replaced by a pinch runner. Two strikeouts and a fly to center later, and Erdman escaped with the win.
“You get a leadoff walk, they usually come around to score, so kudos to Wynn for getting out of that mess in the seventh,” Marinette coach Scott Macintyre said.
Erdman pitched seven shutout innings, striking out eight.
Marinette goes on to face No. 1 Luxemburg-Casco on the road Thursday. Lux-Casco beat the Marines 14-2 and 5-0 this season.
“That’s what playoffs are all about,” Macintyre said after Tuesday’s win. “Now we’ve just got to play extremely tough.”
For Oconto Falls, five seniors graduate: Sydney Bell, Allen, Hanna Krejcarek, Madison Uelman, and Lily Kurek.

Cougars Stop Shiocton
3-1 Move on to
Regional Final

Clutch doubles saw the Coleman Cougars push past Shiocton in their first playoff game on Tuesday.
Ava Podoski doubled home Annabell Markiewicz in the fourth to give Coleman a 1-0 advantage, but a walk, two errors, and a wild pitch gave the run back in the sixth.
It didn’t take long before Coleman re-took the lead, as Markiewicz doubled to start off the sixth inning and scored in the next at-bat, a double from Shakira Marks, who then scored on a double by Alyssa Hoida.
Marks was 2-3 with a run and an RBI and Markiewicz went 2-3 with two runs scored.
Courtney DenRuyter allowed just the one unearned run on two hits and two walks. She struck out 16 of the 27 batters she faced.
Next up is No. 3 Iola-Scandinavia, coming off a 12-10 win over Oconto on Tuesday. That one will be held in Coleman on Thursday and the winner faces either No. 1 Bonduel or No. 5 Manawa on Tuesday, May 30.

Niagara Nips Three
Lakes/Phelps 3-2 in
Extra Innings
to Advance

Niagara slipped past Three Lakes/Phelps in extra innings Tuesday to earn a crack at Division 5 No. 1 seed Wabeno/Laona in the next round.
Addison Wheeler singled and scored on an Emma Broullire single to walk it off Tuesday in the eighth inning, 3-2.
Abby Wells gave up seven hits and five walks over eight innings, striking out eight. Both runs allowed came in a four-hit fifth inning.
Broullire reached base four times in the game, with three singles, a hit-by-pitch, and a run scored. Abigail Richtig tripled and scored.
The fourth-seeded Badgers go to Laona on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to take on the Rebels, who beat Goodman/Pembine 15-2 on Tuesday to start their playoff campaign.

Lena/STAA Tops
Elcho to Advance
in Regional Play

Lena/Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy clipped Elcho 14-12 in playoff action Thursday to keep its softball season alive.
Lena/STAA took a 9-3 lead after two innings and made it 11-3 through three.
Elcho scored one in the fourth and then went off in the fifth, scoring eight runs to tie the game.
Coach Cindy Powers’ squad would score three in the fifth from four walks and a hit batter to re-take the lead for good, however.
“They’ve gotten better with that. Earlier during the year they would have given up,” Powers said.
Hanna Parrett scored the go-ahead run, her second of the game.
Brooklyn Rennie would score three runs off two walks and a hit-by-pitch, Lil Neta had a single and scored twice, and Payton Durow tripled and scored two runs.
“Usually it’s someone different every game, but that’s OK though. That’s how it’s supposed to be. You can’t have just one person every time,” Powers said.
Durow started at pitcher for Lena/STAA, which earned a date with No. 2 Florence on Tuesday.

Marines Drop
Non-Conference
Game to Phantoms 8-1

Six runs in the third inning helped West De Pere beat Marinette 8-1 in softball action Thursday.
Karleigh Linssen hit a home run in the middle of the big Phantoms rally.
Marinette’s Barrett Cole was 1-4 with a run scored. Cienna Grawey had an RBI.

Hornets Advance
in Regional With
Win Over Eagles

Gillett/Suring got its postseason campaign underway with a five-inning win over Menominee Indian on Thursday.
The Hornets, seeded seventh in Division 3, earned a date with No. 2 seed Amherst on Tuesday by beating 10 seed Menominee Indian 15-4.
After going down 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Gillett/Suring got things going with five in the bottom of the frame.
The Eagles countered with three in the top of the second to cut the lead back to 5-4, but the Hornets scored two in the bottom of the second and seven in the third to break the game open.
G/S batters hit three home runs, all inside-the-park home runs, with one each by Emma Kristof, Bailey Stuart, and Mckenzie Chesterfield.
Kristof’s two-run home run in the second made it 7-4 in the second and Stuart’s inside-the-parker in the fourth made it 14-4.
Chesterfield scored Morgan Dryja for the final two runs of the game in the fourth.
Kristof was 2-2 with three runs and four RBIs, Morgan Dryja was 2-3 with three runs and an RBI, Chesterfield was 2-3 with two runs and three RBIs, and Kylie Kallies went 2-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Cilena Guns was 1-3 with three runs. Stuart and Autumn Dryja were each 1-3 with two RBIs, with Stuart scoring once and Dryja twice.
Autumn Dryja got the win. She allowed two hits and four unearned runs. She struck out two batters and did not walk a hitter.

 

Category:

Subscriber Login