B-T softball team closes DC play with a win, falls to Thorp

The Blair-Taylor softball team won its final Dairyland Conference game of the season, but won’t go into tournament play on a winning streak.

The Wildcats edged Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, 2-1, on Monday of last week. That was the team’s fourth consecutive win, but that streak ended with a 9-7 loss to Thorp on Thursday. While Thursday was scheduled as the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament opener, both B-T and Thorp had first-round byes and didn’t play until Tuesday of this week.

B-T finished the regular season with a 17-8 record and easily won the Dairyland Conference Small Division with a 13-1 mark. The team is seeded second in its WIAA bracket and hosted (7) Pittsville on Tuesday of this week. The winner of that game will play the winner of the game between (3) Pepin/Alma and (6) New Lisbon on Thursday. The sectional round will be played next Tuesday and Thursday; Marshfield Columbus Catholic is the top seed in the bracket. The sectional final is scheduled to be held at B-T next Thursday.  

B-T 2 ECIL 1

All of the scoring came early as the Wildcats shut the Lancers out for six straight innings.

ECI took the lead with a run thanks to two hits and a walk in the bottom of the first. But B-T pitcher Andrea Aleckson would keep them in check the rest of the game. She allowed just three hits and one walk over the next six innings, shutting the Lancers out while striking out 12 batters. 

B-T scored both of its runs with two outs in the second. Landonn Daffinson singled and scored on a double by Frankie Zentgraf. Emma Wathke then singled Zentgraf home and gave B-T a 2-1 lead. 

The Wildcats had chances throughout the game as the team finished with nine hits, but couldn’t extend the lead. 

Wathke went three-for-three with an RBI while Daffinson was two-for-three. 

Thorp 9 B-T 7

The Wildcats had a big inning early, but the Cardinals had a bigger one late to pull ahead for the win.

B-T had a 7-4 lead entering the sixth inning, but the Cardinals strung together four straight hits, including a double that tied the game. Thorp took the lead on a fielder’s choice and then added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly.

The Wildcats threatened in the bottom of the sixth with three consecutive two-out singles, but that inning ended on an offensive interference call in the base paths. B-T got one runner on with two outs in the seventh, but couldn’t push another run across. 

B-T took an early lead with four runs in the first inning. The first two scored on an error in the outfield before Elissa Smetana tripled a run home and another error brought another home. 

Thorp scored one in the third and another in the fourth. B-T got one back on an RBI single by Maddie Frederixon in the bottom of the fourth. Thorp brought two runs home in the fifth, making it a one-run game. 

The Wildcats survived that push as Smetana tripled in one run and later scored on an error to put B-T ahead by three. 

But the Cardinals kept pushing and exploded in the sixth.

Only six of the 16 runs scored in the game were earned as the teams combined to commit nine errors.

Frederixon took the loss in the circle, tossing three relief innings and allowing six hits and one walk while striking out two. Aleckson struck out four while allowing six walks and two hits in four innings.

Frederixon and Smetana both went three-for-four at the plate, Smetana batted in two runs. Zentgraf added two hits.