Lutheran ace shuts down talented Topper lineup
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
The game of softball, or even baseball, can be an absolute anomaly at times.
No how-to book, measure of analytics or Tom Imanski hitting drills video can prepare you for the actual real thing: taking cylindrical bat and attempting to make contact with a moving ball fluttering at high speeds.
While your pitcher can be “on” most days, especially against inferior competition, hitters are a funny bunch. Sometimes, you just don’t smash the ball all over the field.
And when an off day combines with an ace pitcher on a mission on the other side, the result can be devastating.
The Catholic Central softball team would’ve gladly accepted the word devastating after a May 31 home playoff loss against underdog Racine Lutheran, because the actual term to describe the 4-3 blunder was more like downright gut-wrenching.
The 21-5 Lady Toppers, beaming with confidence and deep thoughts of state tournament dreams, were shocked by a Racine Lutheran squad they had beaten by a combined score of 18-1 in two games during the regular season.
“It may not have been the toughest loss I’ve been through, but it certainly ranks in the top three,” said CC coach Bill Greskiw, who wondered if his girls looked past the 16-12 Crusaders. “Their #1 pitcher was back after an injury, but we’ve seen her enough in the last couple years that there were no surprises. It’s never easy to lose in tournament play, but this year was extra tough because we knew we were a good team and had solid chance of going far into the tournament.”
Claire Rosenberg, the aforementioned ace, pitched with a purpose, holding the high-powered Central offense to seven hits and complementing the Crusaders’ stellar defense.
Conversely, the Toppers committed two errors, which Greskiw admitted “made a difference.”
Lutheran scored an unearned run in the fourth, and took the lead for good with a three-run sixth to secure the victory.
The big inning featured four singles, bunched for an overwhelming offensive assault.
The Toppers fell into a 4-2 hole heading into their half of the sixth, but cut the lead to 4-3 with the third of three hits that yielded a total of three runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Katie Kubiak cannon-balled a triple to right-center to lead off the sixth. She scored on a sacrifice fly by Maddy Vos.
Kubiak finished 3-for-3, and Kacie Snyder added two hits.
Taylor Rieck tallied an RBI double.
“Maybe we looked past them, I don’t know,” Greskiw said. “All I know for sure is that the whole program, kids, coaches, and parents took it pretty hard. But once the tournament is over, we’ll start to forget it.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played Friday, May 29, then moved to May 30, but rain caused it to take place on a rare Sunday afternoon at the request of Lutheran.
Lutheran’s head coach, Becky Demuth, recently suffered the death of her father, and visitation was set for Monday, so the game needed to be played Sunday.
Catholic Central agreed to the Sunday game.
Topper senior Mackenzie Kyle allowed three earned runs and six hits while striking out seven with no walks against Lutheran.
She finished the year 17-6 overall.
Catholic Central was 21-6 overall and won the Metro Classic Conference with a 14-0 record.
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