Wautoma Softball State Bound following 2-1 victory against Amherst Lady Falcons in Sectional Finals

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The Wautoma Lady Hornet’s historical softball season continues as they punched their ticket to State with a 2-1 victory versus the Amherst Lady Falcons on June 2 at Woyak Park, Plover.   

An omen was when Wautoma won the coin toss and elected to be the home team.  Wautoma senior pitcher Bri Handel struck out the first three batters for the Falcons while the Hornets scored first in the bottom of the first inning.  Ava Stahl led off with a hard single while Bailey Blader-Lucht sacrificed bunted Stahl over.  Stahl stretched it to third with no cover initially at third base only to recognize she would have been out and then escaping the most amazing pickle ever (six times back and forth).   Handel RBI single would drive Stahl in to make it 1-0.

 

Amherst had a chance in the 3rd inning with two outs (runners on 2B and 3B) and good stick pitcher Hailey Peskie up but Ava Butt gunned Orsund out trying to steal third on an initial drop for the third out.  The Hornets would strike again for their only other run in the 3rd inning on a one-out walk Blader-Lucht drew and stole second base.   Handel would smash again with an RBI 2B to score Blader-Lucht making it 2-0.

The Lady Falcons scored their lone run in the 4th inning as Peskie roped a lead-off double and scoring on a one-out fielder’s choice RBI by Sydney Jastromski.   Both pitchers would take control in the final three innings in what was a pitcher dual.   

Wautoma’s Handel threw a complete game 10 strikeouts, 5 hits and one earned run victory while Peskie punched out six Hornets while also giving up five hits suffering a tough defeat.   Handel and Stahl led the Wautoma hitting attack with Stahl (2x3, SB, run) and Handel (2x3, 2B, 2 RBI’s) while Jalyn Piechowski collected the other hit.  Peskie led the Falcons going (2x3, 2B, run).

“We knew going in this was going to be a great game for Wautoma and Amherst are always neck and neck battles going back to middle school and summer games/tournaments.   We dealt with the same score defeat last year in Regional Finals to them.” Head Coach Tom Butt said.  Coach Butt said how proud the coaching staff is for doing it with a purpose and defeating a very well coached team in Dale Jastromski.   The Hornets improved to 26-4 overall.   

 

Wautoma will play on June 10 at noon as the #3 seed vs #2 seed Poynette Pumas in State Semi-Finals action at UW-Madison softball team’s Goodwin Field.     

Pictured are: The Wautoma Lady Hornets won their Sectional Championship 2-1 on June 2 in Plover. The team will advance to the State tournament on Friday, June 10 at Goodman Diamond, Madison. The team and coaches include: (back) Head Coach Tom Butt, Sydney Dunn, Jalyn Piechowski, Natalie Perkins, Bri Handel, Olivia Cieslik, Bryn Gunderson, Manager Sierra Royston, Manager Kelsey Baumann, and Assistant Coach Jeff Stahl; (front) Assistant Coach Paige Allen, Liv Weiss, Ava Butt, Braelynn Pica, Bailey Blader-Lucht, Ava Stahl, Brianna Buechner, Kendall Gustke, Bella Smith, and Assistant Coach Jackie Gunderson.

   

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  • Wautoma Lady Hornets win Sectionals and are off to the State Tournament
    Wautoma Lady Hornets win Sectionals and are off to the State Tournament