MFL MarMac softball team wraps regular season
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
The MFL MarMac softball team went winless last week, dropping a combined five games to South Winneshiek, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Alburnett and Wilton.
The Bulldogs started with South Winn, losing both games of a June 30 doubleheader. Their best chance to win was in game one, when they jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning, then increased the advantage to 4-1 in the second. However, the Warriors responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, cutting the lead to 4-3. MFL MarMac made it 6-3 in the top of the fourth, before South Winn pushed across two runs in the bottom of the inning and one in both the fifth and sixth to edge the Bulldogs 7-6.
MFL MarMac pitcher Mackenzy Ruff gave up seven hits and four walks over six innings, in addition to hitting a batter. Only two of the seven runs that scored were earned, as the porous Bulldog defense committed six errors.
Offensively, MFL MarMac actually out-hit South Winn, with 10 knocks, and also drew three walks. Ashley Shaw had a perfect 3-3 game and scored three times. Autumn Shaw was 2-3, including a double, walked, drove in two runs and scored once, while Garnett Niedziejko finished 2-4 with an RBI. Morgan Jacobson tripled and drove in a run.
South Winn took game two 6-2, scoring all of its runs in the third inning. Ruff pitched three and two-thirds innings for the Bulldogs, allowing six hits, one walk, one hit batter and three earned runs. Emily Hendrickson-Troester surrendered four hits, two walks and three earned runs over two and one-third innings.
The Bulldogs tallied four hits in the game, including two from Kaitlin Picha, who also stole a base and scored one of the team’s two runs. Lauren Kishman plated both Picha and Ruff with a two-RBI single in the third inning.
On July 2, MFL MarMac lost to Sumner-Fred 12-0, in a four-inning perfect game for Cougar pitcher Chantelle Nuss.
Sumner-Fred jumped ahead 3-0 in the first inning, then cranked out five runs in the second, one in the third and three more in the fourth. Cougar batters racked up 13 hits against Bulldog pitching, four of them for extra bases. They also drew five free passes and were twice hit by pitches.
The Bulldogs wrapped up the week—as well as their regular season—on July 3, in a tournament at Alburnett. They played the host team in the opening game, losing to the Pirates 13-0 in three innings. Alburnett cashed in on 15 hits, doing most of the damage with an 11-run third. Only five of the runs that crossed the plate throughout the game were earned.
MFL MarMac’s offense could muster just two hits in the contest, one from Ashley Shaw and the other by Ruff.
The second tournament game was another tough loss, this time 12-0 against Wilton. The Bulldogs again fell prey to big innings, giving up five runs in the second and seven in the third. The Beavers had 12 hits overall, and 10 of the 12 runs they plated were earned.
The MFL MarMac offense couldn’t respond, picking up just two hits. Picha had one and Jacobson the other.
The losses dropped the Bulldogs to 3-30 overall and 3-11 in the Upper Iowa Conference. The team last won on June 9, and they’ll hope to break that losing streak on Tuesday night, in a Class 2A - Region 8 first round match-up against another three-win squad, Bellevue. The game will start at 7 p.m. in Monona. The winner will play at Northeast the following night.