Wildcats top Arcadia, E-S, fall to Augusta

The Blair-Taylor softball team won two games last week, but lost to Augusta for the second time this season. 

The Wildcats began the week with a 5-2 win over Arcadia on Monday before besting Eleva-Strum, 5-1, on Tuesday. On Thursday, however, the Wildcats struggled to get a read on Augusta ace Laney O’Brien in a 2-0 loss, giving the Beavers the season sweep.

B-T began Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association play with a 17-7 record as it received the top seed in its regional bracket. B-T hosted No. 9 Alma Center Lincoln on Tuesday. The winner of that game will play the winner of the game between No. 5 Cochrane-Fountain City and No. 4 Thorp on Thursday. 

The sectional semifinal games will be played this coming Tuesday, and the sectional final — currently set to be played at B-T — will be played next Thursday. 

B-T 5 Arcadia 2

The game lacked the theatrics of the first matchup between two of the top area teams, but the end result was the same with the Wildcats coming away with the win.

The last time the teams faced, Arcadia had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning. B-T pitcher Andrea Aleckson got a double play to end that game with a one-run B-T victory. 

This time, Arcadia struck early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first run came home on an error before Madison Grotjahn hit an RBI single, putting the Raiders ahead 2-0.

Arcadia would manage just one more hit — a single in the sixth inning — the rest of the way. 

B-T cut the lead in half when Alyssa Tubbs scored on a groundout in the third. The Wildcats took the lead on a two-run double by Avery Peterson in the fourth. Another run scored on an error later in that inning, putting B-T ahead, 4-2. Andi Beck added an RBI single in the sixth. 

The teams combined for just seven hits, though B-T earned more baserunners with seven walks. Five different B-T players had one hit. 

Aleckson was in control, striking out nine with just one walk.

Layna Wozney took the loss for Arcadia, pitching until there was one out in the fifth when Teagan Pientok took over. The two combined to strike out four batters. 

B-T 5 E-S 1

In a matchup between two of the best pitchers in the Dairyland Conference, Aleckson had the upper hand over Ruby Bartholomew. 

Aleckson struck out five batters, while holding E-S to four hits and five walks in the win. Bartholomew struck out 10 and limited B-T to seven hits and two walks, but the Wildcats were able to come through in the clutch. 

The B-T pitcher gave her team the lead with an RBI single in the third. After another run scored on an error, Emma Wathke hit a two-out RBI double to make the score 3-0. 

B-T added two more runs in the fourth as Beck hit an RBI single and another run scored on an Aleckson groundout. 

The Cardinals’ only run came in the seventh when Bartholomew hit a two-out RBI double.

Peterson and Landonn Daffinson both had two hits for B-T. Aleckson had one hit and two RBIs. 

Augusta 2 B-T 0

While they had the same number of hits as Augusta, the Wildcats couldn’t bring any runs home.

B-T struck out nine times and didn’t earn a walk against Augusta’s Laney O’Brien. Three of B-T’s five hits came from Beck. 

Augusta took the lead with a run in the top of the fourth and added another in the seventh.

Aleckson took the loss, despite allowing one earned run on five hits and no walks, while striking out seven.