JANESVILLE — Head coach Kristen Worm had a hunch 2-0 wasn’t going to be a big enough lead for her sixth-seeded Janesville Craig softball team to hold off 11th-seeded Elkhorn, so she made a call for a little insurance.
The Cougars lineup responded in the fifth inning, starting the frame with five consecutive hits en route to four runs and a 6-0 lead.
Those runs helped Craig withstand a late surge from Elkhorn, including three home runs in quick succession in the sixth, to pick up a 9-5 Division 1 regional semifinal win.
Craig senior outfielder Bella Vitaioli popped a two-run double in that fifth inning after the Elks made a pitching change.
“I knew there were girls on base, and I knew we needed to hit and get them in,” she said. “The ump had a huge strike zone, so I knew I had to swing.”
She hit a high fly ball to center field nearly to the fence that eluded the center fielder, and that allowed runners to score from second and third, making the score 4-0.
Bailey Bienema and Mya Eichelt both added RBI hits to bolster the Craig lead. Vitaioli finished with two hits and two RBI, and Eichelt was 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI herself.
Up until that point, Craig had been able to hold down Elkhorn’s offense with Bienema in the circle. She said she jammed hitters with her riseball inside, limiting them to three hits, but the Elks found their groove after falling behind 6-0.
With one out in the sixth, Michala Meinen put Elkhorn on the board with a solo home run deep into the left-field power alley. After a flyout to left, Addison Schliepp and Veronica Siegler crushed back-to-back homers in the same direction to cut Craig’s lead to 6-3. Cars parked just beyond the fence appeared in danger on Siegler’s homer, but the ball cleared them and landed in the road beyond.
“I was pitching pitches that had pitched the whole game that they didn’t really touch, so I was not expecting the home runs,” Bienema said.
Maddie Schieve relieved Bienema and got the final out of the sixth with the lead still intact.
“They were on their fourth time through the batting order,” Worm said of Elkhorn’s rally. “They had seen her (Bienema) a few times. ... They had her timing down, so we just needed to make a change. We did, and Maddie did a good job finishing things up.”
Despite the homers, Bienema said after the game she wasn’t worried because she knew her team had more hits and runs in it — and she was correct.
The bottom of the sixth began with Alex Hanson and Ava Schaffner reaching on consecutive errors. Brynn Sikich brought Hanson home with an RBI hit. Vitaioli struck out with two runners on, but Emily Kleinheinz came up next and ripped a two-run double down the left-field line to restore her team’s six-run lead at 9-3.
“No matter where we are in the lineup, I know any girl can get a hit,” Vitaioli said. “If I don’t get a hit, I know the girl behind me can.”
Meinen added two more RBI in the seventh with a two-out single back up the middle after a couple of Elks reached on errors, but Schieve got Ellie Jacobson to line out to Kleinheinz at third to clinch the win.
Craig’s next opponent will be one that beat the Cougars earlier in the season, third-seeded Oregon.
The Panthers beat Craig 3-0 at the Youth Sports Complex on April 6 behind pitcher Lauryn Etienne, but Worm expects her team to perform better at the plate than it did that day.
“That was really the first game where our hitters really started swinging against live pitching,” she said. “I don’t think we had really hit our groove yet.”
JANESVILLE CRAIG 9, ELKHORN 5
Elkhorn 000 003 2 — 5 7 3
Craig 020 043 X — 9 14 4
Leading hitters — Wester (E) 2x4, Meinen (E) 2x4, Sikich (JC) 2x4, Vitaioli (JC) 2x4, Kleinheinz (JC) 2x4, Bienema (JC) 3x4, Eichelt (JC) 3x4. 2B — Wester (E), Vitaioli (JC) 2, Eichelt (JC) 2, Kleinheinz. HR — Schliepp (E), Meinen (E), Siegler (E).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — E: Wall L, 4 2/3-7-4-3-1-6; Siegler 1 1/3-7-5-2-0-1. JC: Bienema W, 5 2/3-6-3-3-0-4; Schieve 1 1/3-1-2-0-0-1.
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