Arcadia earns pair of extra-inning wins in rivalry sweep of G-E-T

Heading into last week, the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau softball team was the lone remaining survivor unbeaten in Coulee Conference play. Through five innings of their first of two rivalry matchups against Arcadia, it appeared as if that unblemished record was in no danger.

Instead, the Raiders (13-7, 9-2 Coulee) pulled off an improbable comeback win over the Red Hawks (13-4, 8-2) and then knocked them off again in extra innings three days later to dramatically shift the tenor of the battle for Coulee supremacy.

Following last week’s slate of games, West Salem emerged as the new leader in the conference standings with a 9-1 mark in league play. 

The Raiders wrap up the regular season by hosting Blair-Taylor on Thursday at 5 p.m. and playing at Onalaska Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Arcadia 8 G-E-T 7

In just a few innings, the Raiders completely flipped the narrative in the race for the Coulee championship with a stunning comeback win over G-E-T last Monday in Arcadia.

The Red Hawks drew first blood in the top of the third, as Halene De Jager laced a double with the bases loaded to plate three runs. That was followed by another three-run rally in the fourth (capped off by Kinley Andersen’s RBI single) and another run scoring on an error in the fourth.

At that point, with G-E-T leading 7-0, a mercy rule win for the Red Hawks seemed more likely than an Arcadia win. But the Raiders took advantage of a few G-E-T miscues to kickstart a rally. The first two Arcadia batters reached in the bottom of the sixth on errors. Those runners eventually got to second and third and scored when a dropped third strike led to an airmailed throw to first going into right.

Yet another error helped set the stage for Sacia Boland’s two-run single with two outs to slice the deficit to 7-4.

Tatum Drazkowski started the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Back-to-back singles by Layna Wozney and Kaitlyn Bremer got the Raiders within a run, and Bremer scored on an error to knot the score at 7-7 and send the game to extra innings.

After G-E-T went down in order in the top of the eighth, Arcadia’s Chloe Schlosstein hit a leadoff single to begin the bottom of the eighth, moved to second on a sac bunt and scored the winning run on Kiley Fitzpatrick’s walk-off single.

Bremer went 2 for 4 at the plate for the Raiders with an RBI and two runs. G-E-T’s Alexis Ouellette finished 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Mel-Min 16, Arcadia 9

The Raiders couldn’t keep up with the scoring output of the Mustangs (15-2), who poured it on from start to finish in a wire-to-wire non-conference victory last Tuesday in Arcadia.

The highlight play of the evening for Arcadia came in the bottom of the third, when Bremer blasted a solo home run to center.

Wozney went 2 for 3 for the Raiders with a walk, an RBI and a run, Drazkowski finished 2 for 4 with three runs scored and Tessah Ely was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run.

Arcadia 5 G-E-T 4

It was going to be almost impossible for Arcadia to top rallying from seven runs down to beat G-E-T in the first meeting of the two rivals, but a dramatic 10-inning victory was about as good as a sequel could get.

The Raiders outlasted the Red Hawks for a one-run win to complete a pivotal season sweep last Thursday in Galesville.

Ely’s sacrifice fly in the top of the second and a run scored on an error in the third allowed Arcadia to jump ahead 2-0, but G-E-T responded with a run on Ellie Cox’s RBI single in the bottom of the third and a three-run rally in the fourth featuring Lorissa Thompson’s two-run single and Andersen’s RBI double to leapfrog ahead 4-2.

A Schlesser sacrifice fly in the fifth cut that G-E-T lead to 4-3, then Wozney drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs and a full count in the top of the seventh to tie things up at 4-4.

Kennedy Scow gave the Red Hawks a shot to win it in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff double, but Arcadia managed to strand the potential winning run at third. It was eventually Ely who had the clutch breakthrough moment with a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the top of the 10th.

Despite Caroline Mack drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, she never reached scoring position as the Raiders locked up the victory.

Ely finished 2 for 5 with two RBIs in the win and Fitzpatrick was 2 for 4. Bremer pitched all 10 innings in the win, striking out 11 while giving up four runs on 12 hits and two walks.

At the plate for G-E-T, Cox finished 3 for 5 with an RBI while Andersen, De Jager and Ouellette each recorded two hits.

Arcadia 14 Altoona 4

An eight-run rally in the bottom of the third turned a tie game into a rout and helped propel Arcadia to a six-inning win over Altoona this past Saturday at a triangular in Elk Mound.

Drazkowski led the charge, going 4 for 5 with a double and five RBIs. Ely finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs while Madison Grotjahn and Bremer drove in three and two runs, respectively.

Elk Mound 13 Arcadia 9

Though the Raiders erased an early five-run deficit, it was still the host Mounders who had the better finishing kick to pull out the win at last Saturday’s triangular.

Ely finished the game 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs and Jordan Walters went 2 for 4. Bremer drove in a pair of runs while Drazkowski, Grotjahn and Schlosstein each doubled in the loss.