By Mike Ramczyk and Chris Bennett
Burlington and visiting Elkhorn played to a 2-2 tie after seven innings Thursday evening, so the girls decided to turn the game into a marathon.
The three-hour, 11-inning instant classic finally ended when Demons third baseman Chy Onstad came to the plate with the bases jacked in the bottom half of the 11th.
Onstad calmly smacked a pitch up the middle to score Courtenay Krusemark, and the home fans went home happy with a 3-2 victory on Parents Night.
It was Burlington’s seventh straight victory (10-6), and now the Demons have climbed into sole possession of second place in the Southern Lakes Conference (7-3).
Burlington coach Gary Caliva said his squad is very confident right now.
“The team is starting to believe in itself, and they are beginning to expect to win every game they play,” he said. “Tonight we had good pitching, and our defense made the plays when they needed to. As a team we expect to win every time we play.”
Defense fueled the Demons in the extra innings. In the ninth, first baseman Lauren Hockman and shortstop Tay Lewis turned a nifty double play. Then, in the 10th, an Elkhorn single seemed certain to produce the go-ahead run from second. But Hockman caught the relay throw from right field, turned and fired a strike to catcher Adriana Burd, who tagged out the Elkhorn runner.
Finally, in the top of the 11th, Burlington pitcher Dani Koenen got into a jam with a runner on second base with no outs. But she worked around another walk and kept the Elks off the scoreboard.
Onstad’s game-winning bullet was her fourth hit of the day. Kira Allen, Randee Jackson, Courtney Wieners, Burd and Hockman also added hits.
Koenen scattered six hits and struck out nine while only allowing two walks in the gritty complete game effort.
Burlington 4, Lake Geneva Badger 1
Wednesday meant more of the same for the Demons – timely hitting, solid defense and stellar pitching.
Burlington jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and added single tallies in the fourth and sixth innings for insurance.
Allen, Jackson, Burd and Hockman each knocked two hits. Jackson had two RBIs.
Koenen gave up four hits and struck out five with one earned run.
Burlington 4, Waterford 0
The Lady Demons won their fifth straight game Tuesday night over visiting rival Waterford.
Burlington smashed nine hits, and pitcher Danielle Koenen only allowed five hits in a complete-game masterpiece.
It was Burlington’s third straight victory over a Southern Lakes Conference foe. The Demons are now 8-6.
The Demons jumped on the Wolverines early and often, collecting two runs in the first inning, one in the second and one in the third.
Kira Allen led the offensive attack with two hits and an RBI.
Koenen, Sadie Tenhagen, Randee Jackson, Courtney Wieners, Adrianna Burd, Tay Lewis and Chy Onstad each added a hit. Koenen, Jackson and Lewis notched RBIs.
On May 1, Burlington rallied late and defeated Southern Lakes Conference rival Delavan-Darien 9-7 at Darien.
The Demons followed their victory over the Comets with one over the Panthers and beat Wilmot 5-2 May 2 in a SLC game at home.
The game against Delavan-Darien (8-5, 3-4 SLC) was scheduled to be played at Helfaer Field at Miller Park, but was moved to the Comets’ home field because of inclement weather.
The Demons trailed, 7-4, going into the top of the sixth inning and tagged Comets’ pitcher Jenna Speth for two runs in the fifth inning, another four in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Speth and the Demons’ Koenen each threw complete games, with Koenen victorious. Speth allowed 10 hits and struck out five. Koenen allowed 11 hits and struck out two and helped herself at the plate by going 1-for-4.
Onstad finished 3-for-5 with three hits and four RBI. Allen went 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBI.
Through the game against Wilmot, Onstad was hitting .500, good for second on the team. Lewis leads the Demons with a .548 batting average and 25 RBI.
Against Wilmot (8-4, 3-2 SLC), Burlington scored two runs in each of the first and second innings and never trailed.
Koenen threw another complete game and scattered five hits over seven innings and struck out six.
Lewis went 1-for-3 with three RBI. Burd finished with two hits.
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