The Iola-Scandinavia softball team will open WIAA tournament play at 4:30 p.m. today (Thursday, May 26), at home against Shiocton in a Division 3 regional quarterfinal.
If the second-seeded Thunderbirds win, they will host No. 3 Bonduel or No. 6 Menominee Indian at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31. The winner of that game will play for a regional championship game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2.
The T-Birds posted a 2-3 this past week to complete their regular season schedule. The team swept a doubleheader at Shiocton, 5-2 and 10-2, Monday, May 16, before losing three straight to Stevens Point Pacelli Tuesday, May 17; Amherst Thursday, May 19; and Amherst Saturday, May 21. The team finished tied for fourth in the Central Wisconsin 8 Conference with a 7-7 conference record and a 10-10 overall mark.
Meanwhile, the junior varsity team completed their season with three wins and two losses. I-S lost two games to Shiocton, 8-4 and 13-12, May 16 before sweeping a doubleheader against Plainfield Tri-County, 15-5 and 16-15, May 17 and beating Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 19-5, Friday, May 20. The team finished its season with a 6-10 record.
I-S 5, Shiocton 2
SHIOCTON – Iola-Scandinavia rallied for four runs in the fifth inning for a come from behind victory over the Chiefs.
Morgan Oppor went the distance to earn the win, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out nine batters.
Oppor and Elle Maus accounted for six of the T-Birds’ seven hits. Oppor had three doubles and drove in three runs, while Maus had three singles. Natasha Buster chipped in with a single and two RBIs.
I-S took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, as Buster walked, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on Oppor’s double.
After Shiocton took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, the T-Birds responded with four runs in the fifth. Buster drove in two runs with a double and Oppor doubled to drive in the final run.
I-S 10, Shiocton 2
SHIOCTON – After Shiocton scored two runs in the top of the third, I-S scored 10 unanswered runs. The T-Birds took advantage of five Shiocton errors and 10 walks.
Oppor pitched a complete a game to earn the win. She allowed only one hit and three walks, while striking out 10 batters.
Whitney Tomczak led the T-Birds with two hits, while Oppor, Mary Marx, Payton Erickson and Amanda Aanstad each singled. Erickson drove in two runs while Marx drove in another.
Pacelli 9, I-S 2
IOLA – First-place Pacelli benefitted from 10 errors by the Iola-Scandinavia defense. The T-Birds trailed 3-2 after four innings, but committed four errors in the fifth to allow the Cardinals to score four runs and put the game away.
Oppor allowed 11 hits and no walks while striking out three batters.
The T-Birds could manage only two hits off of Pacelli’s Laura Raflik. Raflik walked three batters while striking out nine. Erickson and Buster each doubled.
Amherst 13, I-S 1
IOLA – Amherst led only 3-1 after four innings, but went on to score 10 runs on six hits with the help of five I-S errors in the fifth inning.
The game was stopped after the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule.
Oppor allowed 10 hits and three walks while striking out six batters.
Marx, Erickson and Kiara Boutwell had the only hits for the T-Birds, as each had a single. Maus drove in the only run when her sacrifice fly to left field to score Oppor, who had walked.
Amherst 13, I-S 4
AMHERST – The seven runs Amherst scored in the second inning provided all the runs the Falcons would need to beat Iola-Scandinavia for the second time in three days.
Marx provided the offensive spark for the T-Birds, as she drove in three runs on a bases-loaded triple in the fourth inning.
Aanstad drove in the other run in the four-run fourth with a double. Boutwell and Teresa Sprangers had three and two hits, respectively, while Oppor had the other hit for the T-Birds.
Oppor allowed 11 hits and six walks while striking out five batters.