CRIVITZ — Coleman’s Macy Nowak only had one hit in Thursday’s WIAA Division 4 softball Sectional championship game between the Cougars and Random Lake, but she made sure to make it count.
With the No.1-seeded Cougars leading 3-2 in the bottom of the third, Nowak stepped up to the plate and connected on Jayla Harter’s fastball for a double that allowed an insurance run to come around and score, putting Coleman ahead 4-2.
No. 2 Random Lake refused to go down quietly after Madelyn Abler socked a one-out triple in the top of the third, while Harter worked a walk before moving up to second base on a stolen base to put the tying run into scoring position.
Courtney DenRuyter, who has 590 strikeouts in her career, punched out Alivia Stefanich for the second out, which brought Ava Daggett up to bat as the Rams’ final hope of keeping their season alive.
DenRuyter quickly dashed those hopes, getting Daggett to ground out to first base, and the Cougars erupted in euphoria as Coleman punched its ticket to the State championship tournament.
The Division 4 State tournament takes place at Goodman Diamond in Madison and begins June 6 with the semifinal round and concludes with the championship game on June 8.
Random Lake (17-6) grabbed an early lead after Abler scored on an error before Lily Klein hit an RBI-single to plate Stefanich and give the Rams a 2-0 cushion in the top of the first.
Coleman (22-4) struck back in its half of the frame, with an RBI-single from DenRuyter bringing home Annabell Markiewicz.
Montana Fonder scored on an error before DenRuyter did the same thanks to an RBI-groundout by Alyssa Hoida, as the Cougars grabbed a one-run advantage.
Coleman narrowly out-hit Random Lake by a 5-to-4 margin.
Hoida, Nowak, DenRuyter, Markiewicz and Fonder all went 1-3 at the plate, with Fonder, Markiewicz and Nowak all hitting doubles.
DenRuyter was also the winning pitcher after tossing seven innings and giving up five walks and two unearned runs against eight strikeouts.
Hailey Ermis added a stolen base and a run scored for the Cougars.
Abler was the Rams’ leading hitter, collecting two hits in four trips to the dish.
Harter took the loss with five hits, four runs (one earned) and four strikeouts in six innings of work.
No. 1 Coleman 4 — No, 2 Random Lake 2Coleman 301 000 x — 4
Random Lake 200 000 0 — 2
WP: DenRuyter 7IP, 4H, 2R, 5BB, 8K
LP: Harter 6IP, 5H, 4R, ER, 4K
Leading hitters (Coleman): Nowak 1x3, 2B, RBI; Markiewicz 1x3, R, 2B; DenRuyter 1x3, R, RBI; Fonder 1x3, R, 2B; Hoida 1x3, RBI
Leading hitters (Random Lake): Abler 2x4, R, 3B; Klein 1x3, RBI; Danika Eberhardt 1x3, BB
Division 3
No. 1 Mishicot 3 — No. 1 Peshtigo 0OCONTO — For the second consecutive year, the Peshtigo High School softball team’s season came to an end in the finals of the WIAA Division 3 Sectional playoffs.
And for the second straight year, it was Mishicot that denied the Lady Bulldogs a trip to the State championship tournament.
The Indians kept Peshtigo off the scoreboard for just the second time this year as Mishicot blanked the Lady Bulldogs 3-0.
No stats for either team were available at press time.
Peshtigo finishes the 2024 season with an overall record of 17-7
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