G-E-T beats MVC leader Tomah during busy week
G-E-T senior Genna O'Neill sent a pitch to the plate in a 5-2 win over Tomah at G-E-T High School last Wednesday. (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)
As the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School softball team prepares for a postseason that they hope includes a long run and multiple wins, the Red Hawks are proving to area teams just how good they can be.
They continued that trend with a win over Tomah—the top team in the nearby Mississippi Valley Conference—on Wednesday before beating Onalaska and securing at least a share of a Coulee Conference title with a win over Black River Falls on Friday.
They went 1-1 against some of the top teams in the state at a tournament in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday and are scheduled to visit Viroqua on Monday before Arcadia visits on Tuesday.
G-E-T 5 Tomah 2
After allowing the visiting Timberwolves (10-7 overall, 10-1 MVC) to tie the game and erase a two-run lead in the top of the fifth inning on Wednesday, G-E-T needed to find a way to score.
They did so from the bottom of the lineup, with Caydence Kokott bringing in a pair of runs on a single from the eighth spot in the batting order to give G-E-T a 5-2 lead. The cushion came after Melissa Flynn drove in a run earlier in the inning on a fielder’s choice single while batting sixth.
Having players at the bottom of the lineup who can produce is the difference between a good team and a great team, coach Dan Stuhr said, because then the girls at the top of the lineup don’t feel the pressure and it spreads confidence throughout the lineup.
“That’s the difference between teams that win most of the time and teams that win all the time. If the bottom of your lineup is producing—which ours has for most of the year—it just makes it easier.”
“You never feel like you’re out of a game even though you’re at the bottom of the lineup.”
Kokott and Shayna Kirkey each finished two-for-three to lead G-E-T (17-5, 10-0 Coulee Conference) on offense, and senior pitcher Genna O’Neill struck out 10 Tomah batters while walking three and allowing one hit.
Playing good teams such as Tomah is good for the Red Hawks, who have performed well against some of the top teams in the area the last few weeks. To be in situations such as Wednesday’s where they give up a lead but get it right back will only help when the postseason begins.
“What I liked today is we had the lead, made a couple miscues and let them back in to tie it up. But we didn’t panic, we stayed the course and they came back and we got those three runs in the sixth.”
“It’s just what good teams do, and I’m just really proud of these girls.”
G-E-T 3 Onalaska 1
A pair of runs in the top of the third inning of a low offense performance on Thursday was enough for a G-E-T win, but the host Hilltoppers got within one in the bottom half of the inning before the Red Hawks added a cushion run in the top of the fifth.
The Red Hawks out-hit Onalaska six to five. O’Neill collected nine strikeouts and one walk.
G-E-T 10 BR Falls 0
Four runs in the bottom of the first inning got things started for the host Red Hawks on Friday, and they never looked back in an offensive showing.
Senior Ryann Duffenbach hit a perfect four-for-four with four RBI, hitting a home run and a double to go with a pair of singles. Lindsey Lettner went three-for-four with a pair of stolen bases and a triple from the leadoff spot, and O’Neill threw seven strikeouts and one walk while allowing four hits.
G-E-T 3 Assumption 1
The Red Hawks handed the No. 2 team in Division 4 its first loss of the 2021-22 season in game one of Wisconsin Rapids Assumption’s home tournament on Saturday.
Assumption grabbed a one-run lead in the top of the third inning before G-E-T scored three straight runs to win. Twelve hits helped the Red Hawks get on base, as Lettner and Maggie Bistodeau led G-E-T with three hits each. Savannah Hynes added two.
The Red Hawks limited Assumption to a pair of hits, and O’Neill threw eight strikeouts.
Lake Mills 4 G-E-T 3
A strong tournament field led to a loss for the Red Hawks in their second game on Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids, as the No. 2 team in Division 2 got the best of G-E-T in extra innings.
The two teams finished the seventh inning tied at one before Lake Mills outscored G-E-T 3-2 in the eighth and final inning.
Seven different G-E-T batters recorded a hit. Pitcher Abby Braunreiter threw all eight innings, allowing eight hits and one earned run. She walked one batter.
