Grove joins Delavan-Darien as Southern Lakes state qualifiers
By Jason Arndt
Although Brittany Moore did not produce her best performance, the Union Grove senior still got the job done, deflating Westosha Central’s hopes of a fifth straight WIAA Division 1 state berth Thursday in Lake Geneva.
Moore entered the sectional final boasting an 0.69 ERA, but allowed two runs (both unearned) on five hits, struck out five, and walked three en route to an 8-2 sectional championship.
“My rise ball was not working too well today, so I left some things over the plate,” Moore said.
Union Grove (27-2), ranked No. 2 in the state according to wissports.net, one spot behind top-ranked Westosha (24-5) beat the defending champs two of three times this season, by a combined score of 14-4.
The Lady Broncos will battle No. 4 Oshkosh North (19-2) Thursday at Goodman Diamond in Madison.
Fellow Southern Lakes Conference foe Delavan-Darien (24-6) won its Division 2 sectional final Thursday. The Comets will open state tournament play Thursday at 6 p.m against Northwestern (24-4).
The Lady Falcons saw an uncharacteristic off-day from starting pitcher Alyssa Hrncar.
Hrncar, a junior who was dominant in last year’s state tournament, shut down Union Grove 1-0 to split the regular season series May 5.
She was tagged Thursday night for 15 hits, five earned runs, walked two, and struck out three.
“It was one of those games where they took it to us,” said Falcons co-coach Tom Lampe. “I give them credit, they had runners on base every inning.”
Mental miscues, including three fielding errors, also attributed to the loss, he added.
Union Grove coach Ryan Boylen knew his squad had a chance, citing close calls against the Lady Falcons in previous years.
“This is really four years in the making, we have always been there with Westosha,” he stated. “The ball never seemed to bounce our way, we kind of took it on the chin a couple times.”
Teams battle back-and-forth early
After two scoreless frames, where Moore retired the first four hitters, and Hrncar got out of two jams – courtesy of a Chy Onstad double play in the first followed by Jenna Kontaxis’ throw to gun down Knight in the second – the Lady Falcons’ season unraveled in the third inning.
In the two-run third, Moore (2-for-4) hit a double, plating Kallista Hribar (4-4, three runs), who led off with a single.
Then, Claire Ryan grounded into a fielder’s choice, but eventually scored on a Knight single.
Ryan went 2-for-3 while Knight finished 3-for-4 including a double at the plate.
Moore, who noted Hrncar’s rapid delivery and command, stated the key was finding the right pitches.
“She throws the ball really quick and has great movement,” Moore explained. “We had to really to key in on hitting lines drives.”
Union Grove added two more in the fourth, starting with a Knight single, scoring Hribar, who singled. Moore subsequently knocked in Carey on a single.
Westosha Central chipped away at the lead in the fifth inning when junior Kira Mickelson hit a two-out, bases-loaded double, scoring Hrncar and Onstad, who both singled.
Mickelson’s clutch hit came as no surprise, according to Lady Falcons junior Olivia Klean, who singled in the second inning off Moore after working the count full, continuously fouled off pitches.
“(Kira) has always come through in big situations, because she is always put in the situation with runners on base,” stated Klean, noting the top three in order of Hrncar, Onstad and Konwent are notorious for getting on.
“She just kind of settled in, did her thing, and got us back in the game,” Lampe said.
Klean, who batted next, could not continue the rally, but Lampe stated the junior first baseman had a solid performance at the plate against Moore.
“She had a good day, and I kind of felt bad, she was the one that came up after we scored those two runs, and she had a real hard hit ball, but Brittany made the play,” Lampe said. “But Olivia is coming along really well, she seems to have a knack for clutch plays.”
Broncos blow game wide open
Central incurred mental mistakes in the sixth inning, leading to four Union Grove runs.
Opening the sixth inning, Union Grove produced three straight singles, starting with Carey, who scored on a Ryan sacrifice fly.
McClelland drove in two more, doubling in Hribar and Moore, and eventually scored on a Trudeau sacrifice fly.
“Their pressure got to us and we made a few mistakes,” Lampe said.
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