Grand slams lift New London in final
By Greg Seubert
After rolling through the Bay Conference with a 12-0 record, the New London softball team is two wins away from the program’s second state championship.
The Bulldogs are heading back to state for the second year in a row and eighth time overall following Division 2 sectional wins over Rice Lake and Medford.
New London received a No. 4 seed and will face top-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower at 2:30 p.m. Friday, June 9, at Goodman Diamond in Madison. No. 2 Freedom and No. 3 Beloit Turner will meet in the other state semifinal and the winners will play for a state championship at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 10.
The Bulldogs advanced to state June 1 with a 13-3 sectional final win over Rice Lake and opened sectional play May 30 with a 2-1 win over Medford.
New London 13, Rice Lake 3 (6 inn.)
Kenna Mix and Ava Baehman had grand slams for the Bulldogs in the same inning in a win over the Warriors.
Rice Lake opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Bulldogs sent 14 batters to the plate in the third and came up with 11 runs.
Baehman had two of New London’s nine hits, scored twice and drove in six runs, while Mix, who also picked up the win on the mound, drove in four runs. Jensen Mix, Kelsie Hamel and Savannah Schaff also scored twice.
New London 2, Medford 1 (11 inn.)
A sectional semifinal between the Bulldogs and Raiders turned into a duel between Kenna Mix and Martha Miller, as the pitchers combined for 25 strikeouts.
Pinch runner Olivia Hamel broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 11th inning, as she scored from third base on Eve Hedtke’s hit to center field.
Medford opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Bulldogs answered with a run in the seventh.
The score remained 1-1 until Sommer Krull reached on an error to open New London’s half of the 11th inning and moved to second base on Shelby Glodowski’s sacrifice bunt.
Hedtke and Jensen Mix each had two of New London’s seven hits.