Belleville Beats Waterloo

The Belleville softball team played in Poynette on April 21st, and lost 14-1.
Poynette pulled out to an early lead – scoring nine runs in the first inning and five in the second.
Belleville’s only run was scored in the third inning. Freshman Kori Rogers led off with a base hit to left fiend and moved to second on a wild pitch. The next two batters got out, but freshman Abby Winterburn, hitting in the two spot, came up with a two-out double to score Kori.
Coach Connie Wunschel had this to say, “Poynette’s pitcher Radewan pretty much handled us. She pitched three innings and faced only 12 batters. Struck out two, walked zero, gave up two hits and our only run. Their next pitcher finished the two innings remaining facing seven, striking out five, no walks, no runs and one hit. We had a total of three hits.”
Ryley Hellwig started as the pitcher, going two innings. “I thought she pitched pretty well; her defense let her down, committing all five errors in those two innings. She struck out one, walked three, gave up nine hits and 14 runs,” said Wunschel.
Cassidy Heller pitched the final two innings, facing eight, striking out two, walking zero, and giving up one hit.
“Senior Tara Hanna reached on an error to lead off the second. She stole both 2nd and 3rd, but we stranded her there. Freshman Bailey Legler had our only other hit – a two out double in the fourth, but again, we couldn’t move her farther,” said Wunschel.
The team headed to Marshall on April 22nd, losing to the number one team in the Capitol South conference, the Cardinals, 3-0.
Coach Wunschel said, “I thought we played a very good game, but once again our hitting failed us. We only managed two hits. Even though we were able to get them in the same inning, we couldn’t get another to push them around to score. They have a very good pitcher who is a senior that won all-conference honors last year, Dannie Gumz.”
Marshall started the game with their lead off hitter smashing a double to center field. “We got the next two batters out, the runner got to 3rd on a passed ball and #4 batter reached on a walk (the only time she got on base!!) and the next girl grounded out to end the inning with no runs scored,” explained Wunschel.
In the fourth inning, the Wildcats got the first two batters out, but back to back base hits by Marshall got them in trouble.
“Their #7 got on with a hit through the infield. The #8 batter hit over to the right side that got past Abby Winterburn. She did a fantastic job running it down and getting it to Tara Hanna for a throw to home. The throw was in time, but Catcher Alli Kowalski couldn’t handle it and the run scored. That would’ve been the third out and we’d been out of there, but not to be. So that hitter then got to 3rd on that play and the #9 batter hit a base hit blooper to center to score the other run,” said Wunschel. Marshall ended up scoring two runs in the fourth.
After one out in the fifth inning, Marshall’s #3 batter drag bunted for an infield hit and stole 2nd. “We got the #4 batter to pop up to Cassidy for out number two, but the next batter smacked an outside hit to left field that bended around to get past Bailey Legler for a double. The run scored but we got that hitter out at 3rd when she tried to score,” added Wunschel.
Cassidy Heller pitched all six innings for the Wildcats, spreading out eight hits and giving up Marshall’s three runs. Heller struck out four and walked one.
Cassidy Heller and Tara Hanna both had hits in the fourth. Heller led off with a single to left field, followed by the next two batters getting out. Hanna hit her single to left center. “We stranded them both on base. They were also our only two runners for the game,” remarked Wunschel. “We need to find a way to wake the bats up!! And make the simple plays. We are in most of our games, but we have to find the offensive weapons and get them hot!”
On April 25th, the Wildcats hosted Lakeside Lutheran and lost 2-5.
The first two innings were uneventful for the Wildcats, but in the third momentum started to pick up. Wunschel explained, “After an out, freshman Kori Rogers walked on a full count. Cassidy (Heller) hit a double into left center for runners at 2nd and 3rd. Our next batter struck out, Alli Kowalski then got a walk for bases loaded with Tara Hanna next up. She hit a line shot straight out to center field, which they caught for the third out. Had that ball been hit to either side of their outfielder, we would have scored two runs on that shot!”
Belleville scored their first run in the fourth inning, to take the lead, 1-0.
“Miranda O’Rourke led off with a base hit, Ryley Hellwig hit a grounder to 3rd to sacrifice herself to move Miranda to 2nd. Bailey Legler hit a grounder to 2nd and they made the out on her at first, moving Miranda to 3rd. Junior Leah Blask then hit to their 2nd baseman that made an error on the play, so Leah was safe at first and Miranda was able to score,” said Wunschel.
Belleville scored their other run in the sixth inning when Tara Hanna led off with a hard base shot to center, moved to 2nd on a grounder by Miranda O’Rourke. “Tagged up on a long fly ball to center by Ryley, and scored on a base hit by Freshman Bailey Legler. We did have a runner on in the seventh to make it interesting, but we couldn’t put anything together,” commented Wunschel.
She continued, “Again, Sophomore Cassidy Heller took the pitching plate for us, facing 33 batters, striking out three, walking one, hitting two, gave up 10 hits, and five earned runs. She pitched a fantastic game until the sixth inning, when she gave up four runs on six hits, including some well placed bunts for hits. The first three batters got base hits off her first pitch to each, two were bunts.  Their #4 hitter had a base hit to the left side to score their first run. The next run scored on a passed ball to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Their #5 batter, Ashley Kohls, then got hold of Cassidy’s second pitch offering for a two RBI double. Next batter sacrifice bunted for the first out of the inning, moving Kohls to 3rd. The next girl bunted for an infield hit, but no run scored. The next batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases. We got the second out at home when the batter hit back to Cassidy and she threw home and the next batter hit a popup to freshman Kori Rogers at 2nd for the third out. That inning could’ve been a lot worse! At this point they are ahead 4-1, which is enough to win the game. They did score one more run in the seventh off a home run over the fence by their #4 batter, Shannon Jones. She had a strike on her and sent the second pitch over the fence. Lakeside’s pitcher Hollie Doyle kept us off balance as well, but we did have our chances, leaving seven runners on base. We only managed four hits. We made contact, but again it wasn’t strong enough to get out of the infield and they made the plays. Doyle faced 30 batters striking out four, walking three.”
Belleville’s four hits were made by Cassidy Heller, Tara Hanna, Miranda O’Rourke and Bailey Legler. Heller had the only extra base hit, with a double in the third.
The Wildcats next faced Waterloo at home on April 26th. They won the game, 5-4. This is the team’s first victory over Waterloo in many years.
“They are definitely redefining themselves after they graduated a lot of talent,” commented Wunschel. “They have a starting freshman pitcher and we were able to do some things early in this game.”
“After our batters went 1-2-3 in the first inning, Tara Hanna led off the second with a base hit (we went all the way round the order, ending with Tara). Miranda then flew out to center for the first out. Ryley Helwig then hit a double to left center to have runners at 2nd and 3rd. Bailey Legler then hit one to the fence on the right side to score both runs. Leah Blask then dumped a hit over to short right field to move Bailey to 3rd. We finally got Leah to steal 2nd (after the fourth pitch to Kori) then Kori walked on the next pitch to load the bases. Cassidy then hit over to right to score Bailey. Bases still loaded. Abby Winterburn struck out for out two, followed by a walk to Alli Kowalski to score the fouth run of the inning. Next out was by Tara with a shot to center that was held up by the wind. Might have been a grand slam!!! At this point we were ahead 4-0, but they stormed back to score three in the third. Started with a ground out to Tara. Then they erupted for four straight base hits. First batter hit to left field, which then was misplayed by Leah Hanna to allow the batter to get to 2nd. The next girl hit a base hit to move runner to 3rd, and that batter moved to 2nd on a passed ball. We were able to keep the runner at 3rd so I was hoping we could get another out on maybe a grounder or fly ball, but #3 batter Ashley Kniesel hit a double to the fence in center to score two. Another base hit scored Kniesel from 2nd. We were able to end the inning on two grounders to Tara at short, but it could have been a lot more,” said Wunschel.
In the fourth inning, Waterloo stopped a double play by the Wildcats, a line shot by Cassidy Heller was grabbed by Waterloo’s 2nd baseman who threw it to their 1st baseman to get a running Kori Rogers out.
At the top of the fifth inning, Waterloo scored, tying the game at 4-4. Great defense from Kori Rogers, Cassidy Heller, Alli Kowalski and Tara Hanna prevented Waterloo from scoring to pull ahead. Belleville scored at the bottom of the fifth, winning the game.
Wunschel explained, “Alli Kowalski reached on an infield hit to short that threw the ball late to 1st which then got past 1st baseman to move Allie to 2nd. Fly ball by Tara was our first out. Miranda then hit up the middle for a base hit to move Alli to 3rd. Ryley then hit a fly ball to left for a sacrifice fly to score Alli. They tried to appeal the play that Alli left early, but as Alli said, ‘I didn’t trust Connie, so I watched the girl catch the ball before I left the base.’ How’s that?! We were in good position to score in the bottom of the sixth as well. Leah Blask reached on a base hit to right. We pinch ran Leah Hanna for Blask. Kori Rogers moved Hanna to 2nd on a perfect Sac bunt right in front of the plate. The 2nd baseman had covered 1st on that play and tried to throw to 2nd to get Leah off the base, but overthrew to help move Leah to 3rd. But for naught, as Cassidy Heller hit back to the pitcher on a grounder and sent Leah on the hit to home, but the first baseman was faster than Leah getting the throw home to tag her out to end the threat.”
Cassidy Heller pitched the entire game, facing 30, striking out six and walking zero, giving up seven hits and four earned runs.
The Wildcats had a total of nine hits and committed four errors.
Bailey Legler went 2-3, with one run scored, one stolen base and two RBIs. Leah Blask was 2-3, with one run scored and one stolen base. Cassidy Heller and Alli Kowalski had two RBIs each. Other hits were made by Heller, Kowalski, Tara Hanna, Miranda O’Rourke and Ryley Hellwig.
On Friday, April 29th, the Wildcats faced Wisconsin Heights at home. They lost 12-1 in seven innings.
Heights, “Came out to play after losing to New Glarus the night before,” stated Wunschel. “They scored five runs in the top of the first inning, one in the second, four more in the fourth and two more for the fun of it in the seventh. They had 13 hits, and we committed six errors. A season high for us. Too many balls between the legs, and then the inability to cover bunts was our demise. They only had one double, the rest were base hits after base hits.”
Belleville’s only score came in at the bottom of the first. On one out, freshman Abby Winterburn reached on a walk. Winterburn then stole 2nd, and Heights’ catcher overthrew to the outfield to move Winterburn to 3rd. Alli Kowalski hit a line drive to right field to score Winterburn.
“Tara Hanna then walked on four straight pitches. Miranda hit a grounder to 2nd to move the runners up a base but the chance to score another run ended on a strike out. We had another chance in the second inning with runners on 1st and 2nd,” Wunschel explained. “But another double play shot that down. Abby Winterburn led off the 3rd with a walk, but this time when we tried to have her steal she got a slow start and the catcher made a good throw. After another out to 2nd (she played a solid game) Tara Hanna hit a change up for a double that was short of going over, but again we couldn’t do more. Ryley Hellwig led off the fourth with a double but she could only get to 3rd. We stranded 10 runners. We had seven hits, which is a good output, but we didn’t put them together.”
Cassidy Heller took the loss. She faced 40 batters, struck out five and walked one and gave up 13 hits with seven earned runs.
Alli Kowalski was 2-3, with one RBI. Tara Hanna was 2-2, with one double, one stolen base and two walks. Cassidy Heller and Ryley Hellwig both had doubles.
The Wildcats are 2-6 in the Capitol South and 2-9 overall. They faced Columbus on May 3rd at home, who is first in the north division, and will be in New Glarus on May 5th.