Two late runs lift Indians
By Greg Seubert
Weyauwega-Fremont’s softball team is heading to a familiar place.
The Indians are one of four Division 4 teams still alive in the WIAA state softball tournament and are two wins away from the program’s first state championship.
W-F advanced to state for the second straight year May 31 with a 3-2 win over Manitowoc Lutheran in a sectional final at St. Mary Catholic High School in Fox Crossing. The Indians also handed Coleman a 6-0 defeat May 29 in a sectional semifinal in Weyauwega and will now face Thorp at approximately 9 p.m. Thursday, June 7, at Goodman Diamond in Madison. Pacelli will face Horicon in the other Division 4 semifinal at 8 a.m. Friday, June 8, and the winners will play for a state championship at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 9.
W-F 3, Manitowoc Lutheran 2
The Indians fell behind 2-0 and trailed 2-1 heading into the seventh inning before coming up with the tying and winning runs.
The Lancers opened the scoring with unearned runs in bottom of the third and fourth innings.
Abby Hiller reached on an error in the third and later scored. Hiller, the Lancers’ starting shortstop, was injured as she slid home on the play and had to leave the game.
Manitowoc Lutheran added to its lead in the next inning, as another error led to a run.
The Indians cut the Lancers’ lead in half with a run in the fifth.
It didn’t take long for the Indians to tie the game in the seventh. Cadyn Ehrenberg led off the inning with a triple and scored on a double from the next batter, Alexa Greening. Kiley Akey flied out, but Greening moved to third on Kati Kettleson’s single and scored on Taylor Folk’s single to give the Indians their first lead of the game.
“Taylor only had one hit and the first two or three at-bats, she struggled,” coach Todd Breuer said. “She’s a very emotional player and I’ve seen it where she can go south real fast, but she didn’t. She waited for her next opportunity and it came in the seventh to get the one hit that she needed at the right time.”
Akey, who went the distance to get the win on the mound, then retired three of the four batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh. The Lancers had the tying run on with a two-out single from Allison Menges, but Akey retired Lexi LeClair for the final out.
“It was a good test for us,” Breuer said. “I don’t think that was our best game. We left runs out on the field and gave up two unearned runs, but what does that say about our team? Tremendous character, tremendous leadership.
“Nothing against the other teams we’ve played up to this point in the playoffs, but we never fell behind and once we got that lead, we were comfortable and on Easy Street,” he said. “Nobody was comfortable in this game, but we didn’t fold under the pressure. We stayed positive and got the job done.”
Breuer said the Indians have relied on the team’s four seniors – Akey, Ehrenberg, Greening and Kettleson – all season.
“They just know how to do things the right way all the time,” he said. “All the extra things they did to get to this point, they deserve this win. This group’s been doing it for a long time.”
W-F 6, Coleman 0
Ehrenberg struck out 13 Coleman batters and Ashley Johnson drove in three runs.
The Indians opened the scoring with three runs in the third inning before adding three more in the fourth.
Ehrenberg carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up but gave up two hits
“I love this team,” Breuer said. “I’m just thankful I get to coach them one more week.”