After an up-and-down start to an already late spring season, the Blair-Taylor High School softball team is heating up — at the plate and in the circle.
The Wildcats, who are 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Dairyland, utilized a five-run sixth inning to beat Alma Center Lincoln (2-1, 2-1) 11-1 in six innings on April 30.
The Wildcats finished with 12 hits, thanks in part to two hits from Ari Charles, Cierra Curran and McKenna Nehring. Samantha Fuselier went 3-for-3 with a sixth-inning triple and two RBI.
Sophomore Lauren Steien pitched a three-hitter for the Wildcats, striking out 11 and walking one.
Blair-Taylor 11, Augusta 1 (6)
Steien just barely missed a perfect game, but still managed to throw a no-hitter April 27 for Blair-Taylor. Steien, a sophomore, tallied eight strikeouts and the Wildcats took down Dairyland Conference foe Augusta 10-0 in five innings.
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Steien kept Augusta guessing with a mix of fastballs and a drop ball, coach Greg Bratina said. She was perfect through four innings, but a walk and and then an error in the top of the fifth inning broke it up.
“She was really hitting her spots well,” said Bratina, who took the Wildcats to the WIAA Division 5 state championship game last season. “She had her drop going today, didn’t throw too much of her change. Had some good stuff.”
The Wildcats scored twice in the first, four times in the second, and then twice in the third and fifth innings to force the shortened game. Ari Charles went 2-for-3, while McKenna Nehring had a double and two RBI. Cierra Curran added two RBI as well.
It was Blair-Taylor’s second 10-run win of the week.
“We feel like we’re starting to come into it a bit more,” Bratina said. “Offensively, we’re much more disciplined, not chasing pitches like we were. I think we’re feeling better and our girls are starting to get more relaxed.”
Dairyland
Melrose-Mindoro 14, Eleva-Strum 3 (6)
MELROSE — Calette Lockington went 2-for-3 and scored three runs for the Mustangs in their Dairyland Conference win on April 27. The Mustangs used a five-run fifth and six-run sixth inning to put the game away.
Coulee
Viroqua 3, BRF 2
Viroqua 4, BRF 3
Viroqua swept a Coulee Conference doubleheader from Black River Falls on May 1, winning a pair of one-run games. The Tigers took a 3-1 lead into the top of the seventh inning of the opener, as Madysen Zitzner drove in three runs for the Blackhawks.
Channing Manske and MaKenna Vetsch had two hits each for Black River Falls.
On April 27, The Tigers split a Coulee doubleheader with Onalaska Luther, dropping the opener 14-7 before bouncing back to win the second game 15-13.
Baseball
BRF 7, Menomonie 3
VIROQUA — A strong outing on the mound for Lance Muir helped lift the Tigers to a win in a nonconference game on April 28.
Muir went six innings and allowed just two hits and struck out five. Senior Ethan Anderson went 2-for-4 with two RBI out of the clean-up spot. Jeriah Rave also had two RBI for Black River Falls.
Track and field
Bangor Invitational
Black River Falls senior Stephanie Brauner is having a standout season as her 100-meter hurdle time of 15.59 seconds on May 1 ranks as one of the top performances in all of Division 2.