Trudeau fires 1-hitter to baffle Muskego
By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
After constantly hitting into tough-luck outs against Muskego for nearly seven innings, the Union Grove softball team just needed one line drive to find a gap to gain the victory.
With starting pitcher Ally Trudeau mowing down the Muskego offense, the Broncos finally got the timely hitting they needed in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 1-0 victory in a WIAA sectional semifinal Tuesday afternoon.
With the victory, Union Grove (21-5) advances to play Southern Lakes Conference champion Westosha Central Thursday in a sectional final at Wilmot High School. The winner punches its ticket to the state tournament.
The Broncos’ showdown with Westosha, however, is the least of their worries after their heart-pounding victory over Muskego.
Sam Carey struck the decisive blow with a game-winning RBI double that just sailed over the center fielder’s outstretched glove and allowed Brittany Moore to cross home plate.
“I feel like we have been snake-bitten all year that we’ve continued to hit the ball hard at somebody instead of where they ain’t,” Union Grove coach Ryan Boylen said. “When Sam hit the ball we just said please find a hole and the center fielder just missed catching the ball, but fortunately the ball found the hole.”
Trudeau certainly found plenty of holes in the Muskego batter’s swings. Trudeau allowed just one hit, while striking out 15 hitters to post the victory.
“That was the best game I saw Trudeau throw in her career as a Bronco,” Boylen said. “Muskego is a great hitting team and for her to slow that team down speaks volumes.”
Union Grove will certainly need another strong dose of pitching and timely hitting to knock off the defending state champion and reigning conference champion Falcons.
The Broncos are looking to avenge two previous losses to the Falcons this season by a combined score of 10-0.
“I’m not concerned about us not hitting Westosha earlier this year,” Boylen said. “We have been hitting the ball hard all season, maybe we are due for a big hitting game.”
The Broncos used that same winning combination in their 4-0 WIAA regional playoff final victory over Stoughton last Thursday.
Trudeau struck out 17 Vikings, while Cassidy Korendick and Baylee Waddell each had RBI doubles to propel Union Grove to a 4-0 victory last Thursday.
“The game was pretty much a reflection of our season,” Boylen said. “We had good pitching and timely hitting, which has been our recipe for success.”
Trudeau once again proved to be the key ingredient in the winning recipe, firing a complete-game shutout with a career-high 17 strikeouts. As good as Trudeau pitched, Boylen said his standout hurler has actually pitched better at points this season.
“As good as Ally pitched, they (Stoughton) helped us out chasing a lot of pitches out of the strike zone,” Boylen said. “But give Trudeau credit. She figured out she didn’t need to throw strikes to get them out and she consistently got them to chase bad pitches.”
Trudeau eventually got some run support behind the Broncos’ 3-run fourth inning. Kortendick, Claire Ryan, and Waddell each had doubles in the frame to build the lead to 2-0. Trudeau later made it 3-0 with an RBI single.
The Broncos added their fourth and final run in the fifth on Emily DeCheck’s RBI single.
“I think for the most part we struck the ball well most of the day,” Boylen said. “It was kind of one of those days when we hit the ball hard right at people. Fortunately in the fourth inning we finally hit the ball where they weren’t.”
The Broncos hope to hit the ball where they aren’t Thursday against the reigning state champions.
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