Injury-depleted Demons simply can’t solve resurgent Waterford squad
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
It’s been awhile since the Waterford softball squad has made a large dent in the WIAA postseason.
This spring, they’re well on their way, and they had the added pleasure of doing it against their biggest rival, Burlington.
Jemma Fiehweg crushed a two-run home run to help her team build a 6-0 lead early, and Ashley Baker did the rest on the rubber as the fifth-seeded Wolverines knocked off visiting No. 12 Burlington, 8-3, Tuesday night in a Division 1 regional playoff opener.
Waterford (12-11) will travel to face No. 4 Beloit Memorial at Beloit College in a regional final Thursday.
Waterford jumped on starting pitcher Teagan Schmalfeldt with three-run innings in the first and second, forcing a pitching change to Morgan Klein.
Raelynn Barwick went 3-for-3 for Waterford, and Fiehweg’s big blast was part of a 3-for-4 performance with three RBIs.
Mackenzie Stiewe was 3-for-3 with two runs, and Barwick added three RBIs.
Meghan Schmidt had a two-run single, and Haley Cole was 2-for-3.
The aggressive Wolverines pounded out 14 hits.
Fiehweg said it’s been a special year, and the Wolverines never lost the edge Tuesday night.
“We had the momentum the whole time,” Fiehweg said after the game. “Even when the Demons came back, we were able to play our game, and we did really well, I’m really proud of us.”
Burlington changes things up
With a freak accident occurring against Wilmot last week, Demon coach Val Auseth had to scramble with her lineup.
“It really just wasn’t our day,” Auseth said. “Megan Baumeister and Emily Allen were both out, they were involved in a collision in a game the other night. There’s been a lot of shuffling. We brought up two JV players for this.”
“Teagan pitched well, they just came out hitting.”
With two outfielders out, Auseth made the decision to start Morgan Klein, a pitcher in the outfield, while Schmalfeldt started at pitcher.
Catcher Emily Zuleger had to move to right field, as a new catcher played against Waterford.
The move backfired as Waterford seized control early and never looked back.
For the entire story see this week’s editions of the Burlington Standard Press and Waterford Post.
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