By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
The Burlington and Waterford softball teams split their head-to-head matchup during the regular season.
For the first four innings of their WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Tuesday in Burlington, the teams were neck-and-neck in a 1-1 deadlock.
But in the bottom of the fifth, the flood gates opened and the Demons finally got to Waterford pitcher Maddie Szalewski.
In the fourth, Szalewski pitched her way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with no damage.
In the fifth, Szalewski got into trouble again, surrendering a base hit to Kira Allen, which put two on with two outs for Chy Onstad.
Onstad knocked the go-ahead single, Danielle Koenen followed with a two-run single, and Burlington put up a five spot after two outs en route to a 6-3 victory.
Fifth-seeded Burlington improved to 12-9 on the season. The Demons will host No. 13 Lake Geneva Badger in a regional final Thursday at Burlington.
Waterford finished its season 8-13.
It’s the second straight year Burlington has won an opening-round playoff game.
Onstad, who led Burlington with a 3-for-3 performance, including a triple, was elated after the game.
“I was trying to get a hit to start us off and look for gaps,” Onstad said about her go-ahead hit. “It’s amazing to win a playoff game. We’re a good team, and we always pick each other up. If we put our heart in it, we can beat anyone.”
Burlington first baseman Lauren Hockman tacked on some insurance with an RBI single later in the fifth to make it 5-1. Then, a wild pitch from Szalewski plated another Demon run to make it 6-1.
But the Wolverines mounted a rally in the seventh.
Sam Dawes led off with a double and scored on a Szalewski single to cut the lead to 6-2.
Then, Jaclyn Syrett hustled and just beat the throw to the plate to score on a Caitlyn Whitford fielder’s choice.
However, Koenen, who dazzled with six strikeouts and no walks, retired the next batter to end the threat.
Burlington coach Gary Caliva said the five-run rally was huge.
In that inning, Burlington slugger Talyn Lewis, who had tripled in her first at-bat, was pitched around. But after four more Demon runs crossed the plate, Waterford’s plan backfired.
“We told our kids if the bottom of the order gets on base, and 3 and 4 hitters will get them in,” Caliva said. “They pitched around Tay, and Danielle snuck one through the middle of the infield. That opened the flood gates. We got a little bit of breathing room, which is nice.”
“Waterford is a good team, and we enjoy playing them. Szalewski is a good pitcher, but when our kids are hitting, they can hit anybody.”
It was another solid outing on the mound for Koenen, who shut down the Wolverines in the fifth despite allowing a leadoff double. She buzzed through the lineup in the sixth after the Demons’ big inning, and in the seventh she extinguished Waterford’s rally.
“Dani pitched real well again,” Caliva said. “She’s a real warrior out there. She never gives up. We love having her on the mound.”
Burlington now faces conference rival Badger, a team it beat twice this season.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Caliva said. “We had a couple bad bounces, but other than that, we played a real clean game.”
Waterford coach Ellen Blair and her players exchanged hugs moments after the game. It was an emotional scene.
She said it’s never easy when the season ends.
“I hate today,” Blair said. “It’s tough. It was a really good game, and it came down to one inning. We had no errors today. We weren’t able to answer back.”
Waterford’s seventh-inning rally was indicative of its second half of the season. Waterford won four of its final eight games after a rough start to the season. Despite getting down, the Lady Wolverines never gave up.
“Our team is about battling through adversity in the second half,” Blair said. “Three of my seniors were able to bat in the seventh and make some noise, which was nice.”
Waterford graduated seven seniors from last season, and Blair said the the team spent a lot of the season trying to replace them.
Szalewski, Whitford, Emily Brekke and Lydia Horn played their final games as Wolverines.
“We had a nice end to the season, and we had to replace a lot of power,” Blair said. “It was a great bunch of girls.”
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