Finish season with 19-7 record
MADISON – The Iola-Scandinavia softball team saw its hopes for a state championship come to an end when Horicon beat the Thunderbirds 10-0 in a state semi-final game on Thursday, June 9, at Goodman Softball Complex on the UW-Madison campus. The game was stopped in the sixth inning due to the 10-run rule.
Grantsburg went on to beat Horicon, 3-2, in the state championship game on Saturday, June 11, to claim the Division 4 state title.
The Thunderbirds finished the season with a 19-7 overall record.
“It was a tough loss,” stated Coach Tom Anderson, who is in his 31st coaching year. “Obviously, Horicon is a very good team and they played well today. Offensively, they put pressure on us right away and hit the ball. We felt going into the game we had a good chance to win, but we needed to play well both offensively and defensively and get a few breaks to go our way. With that being said, making it to state was a great accomplishment for this team! We greatly appreciate the support we received this past week from so many people. It was fun, exciting and a great experience. This is something we will remember forever. I did want to mention our two seniors, Alexa Christoph and Makayla Much. They have been great these past four years and will be missed!”
Horicon scored a run each in the first and third innings. The Marshladies added two runs in the fourth inning and another run in the fifth inning before ending the game in the sixth inning with five runs.
The Thunderbirds only scoring threat happened in the second inning. Alexa Christoph, Maddie Much and Myah Heschke each singled to load the bases with no outs. Unfortunately, a strikeout and a double play ended the inning. The T-Birds managed to have only two more hits the rest of the game. Jadyn Krusa singled in the fifth inning and Makayla Much singled in the sixth inning, but both times they were left stranded.
Pitcher Maddie Much started and pitched 5⅓ innings in taking the loss. Julia Munoz pitched ⅓ of an inning before the game ended. Much allowed 12 hits, three walks and had no strikeouts. Munoz allowed one hit, no walks and no strikeouts.
Box Score
Iola-Scandinavia…… 000 000 0 5 2
Horicon……………. 101 215 10 13 0
WP- Lizzie Gibb IP-6, BB-0, SO-2
LP- Maddie Much IP-5⅓, BB-3, SO-0; Julia Munoz IP-⅓, BB-0, SO-0
I-S Hitters: Alexa Christoph 1×3; Myah Heschke 1×3; Jadyn Krusa 1×2; Maddie Much 1×2; Makayla Much 1×3.
Game photos
For some excellent photos of the game by Dan Powers of the Stevens Point Journal, go here.
