By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
And Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor ([email protected])
The cold, windy weather that flustered Wisconsin high school sports teams last week didn’t bother Union Grove senior slugger Kallista Hribar.
Hribar belted a pair of home runs in two Bronco victories at the Poynette Jamboree Saturday, May 6. Hribar also socked a home run off one of the state’s best pitchers Alyssa Hrncar in the Broncos 2-1 loss to state-ranked Westosha Central Thursday, May 4.
On Tuesday, Hribar added two home runs, but the Broncos fell to Wilmot, 15-12, in nine innings.
Hribar leads the Southern Lakes Conference with 14 home runs this season.
“Kalista was really impressive last week,” Union Grove coach Tom Odell said. “I didn’t think she had a chance to clear the fence in any game with the cold and windy conditions, but she proved me wrong.”
“She went through an extensive offseason of strength training and now balls she hit that were fly ball outs last year, are now home runs.”
Against Wilmot, Union Grove scored eight runs in the sixth. Wilmot scored three in the top of the eighth, but the Broncos answered with three in the bottom half.
The Panthers finally pulled ahead with three in the top of the ninth.
Hribar went 5-for-6 with two homers, and Emily Knight was 2-for-5 with two homers. Brooklyn Ottelien added a home run.
Hribar cranked a three-run homer and scored three runs to lead the Broncos to a 7-5 victory over DeForest at the Poynette Jamboree.
Brooklyn Ottelien withstood shaky defense to earn the victory on the mound. Ottelien also helped her own cause with two RBIs, while Megan Hribar also drove in a run for the Grove.
“I was pleased with the results in Poynette, even though we weren’t at our best defensively,” Odell said. “We’ve just had lapses at times this year, but I think we’ll improve defensively as the temperatures start to warm up.”
Fortunately for the Grove, Hribar hasn’t struggled in the cold. Hribar’s two-run homer in the sixth inning against Fox Valley Lutheran broke a 2-2 tie and propelled the Broncos to a 5-2 victory in their first game at the Poynette Jamboree.
Emily Knight also tacked on an RBI double in the frame to build the Bronco lead to 5-2.
The late-game surge helped seal the victory for pitcher Kayli Pfeffer, who allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work.
“Pfeffer did a nice job keeping them off balance,” Odell said. “She is not going to blow pitches by anybody, but she does a nice job locating her pitches and getting people out.”
The Bronco offense found itself off balance against Hrncar. The standout pitcher struck out 14 while allowing just a Hribar home run to lead the Falcons to a 2-1 victory over Union Grove.
“We played well, but just weren’t quite good enough against Westosha,” Odell said. “We didn’t make enough contact in the game, but those 14 strikeouts did come against one of the best pitchers in the state.”
Despite the tough competition, the Broncos deadlocked in a 1-1 tie after Hribar hit her first of three home runs last week in the fifth.
But the Falcons answered with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth to seal the victory.
“Give Westosha credit, they earned it,” Odell said. “They did not get any cheap runs.”
The Broncos got some late inning output the previous day in an 8-7 victory in eight innings at Burlington.
Megan Baker’s RBI single in the top of the eighth broke a 7-7- tie and proved to be the winning blow in the contest.
Ottelien threw a scoreless eighth in relief to seal the victory for the Broncos.
Knight, Bailey Berger, and Ottelien, Megan Hribar, and Alannah Lofquist each drove in a run for Union Grove, who scored two runs in the seventh to help force extra innings.
“Burlington has really improved this season,” Odell said. “It was about as equal as two teams can get.”
The Broncos look to continue their own improvement Tuesday when they travel to Lake Geneva Badger.
“I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made this season,” Odell said. “Our team has bonded well and hopefully that will help us down the stretch of the regular season and postseason.”
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