SPRING GREEN, Wis. — When Brodhead’s Allie Dahl came sprinting home after Keegan Steinke’s pop fly was mishandled by Adams-Friendship center fielder to make it 1-0 in the second inning, it proved to be all the offense that the Cardinals needed.
That’s because junior Ava Risum wasn’t just strong in the circle in Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 sectional championship at River Valley High School, she was absolutely dominant.
Risum allowed just four hits while not issuing a single walk and striking out a whopping 17 batters to send Brodhead to an 8-0 win over the Green Devils and punch their second-straight trip to the state tournament.
Fifth-seeded Adams-Friendship (15-10) committed four total errors in the sectional final while the top-seeded Cardinals’ defense behind Risum was spotless with no miscues.
Sophia Leitzen, fresh off a two-run walk-off homer in the sectional semifinal, reached on an error in third and moved to third on Jaelyn Hillard’s hard-hit infield single. The senior came home an out later on Leah Rear’s groundout to first to give Brodhead (19-4) an early 1-0 lead
Leitzen singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth and Hillard knocked her in with an RBI double to center. Hillard moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Rear’s bunt an out later to make it 4-0.
Dahl reached on an error but Rear was out at second. A wild pitch and walk to Jerrica Schwartz put runners on the corners before a dropped third strike scored Dahl. Another error off the bat of Steinke made it 6-0 and Tessa Kloepping’s line-drive single into center capped off the six-run fifth and upped Brodhead’s advantage to 8-0.
Risum struck out the side in the first inning and followed up a leadoff double in the second with three more strikeouts. She retried the side in the third with two punchouts and worked around a two-out single with a strikeout. The senior struck out all three batters she faced in the fifth and stranded two baserunners in the sixth with a groundout.
To cap it off, Risum struck out the side one final time in the seventh.
Hillard finished with two hits for Brodhead while Riley Weaver had two for the Green Devils in addition to throwing six innings and allowing eight runs (two earned) on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts.
The reigning Division 3 state champions will now head up to the University of Wisconsin in Madison to defend their title next weekend.
• LINESCORE:
BRODHEAD 8, ADAMS-FRIENDSHIP 0
AF 000 000 0 — 0 4 4
Brod 011 060 — 8 4 0
Leading hitters: AF, Weaver 2x3; Gransee 1x3; Kirsenlohr 1x3. Brod, Hilliard 2x4, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Leitzen 1x3, 2 Runs; Rear 0x4, 2 RBI; Dahl 0x2, 2 Runs; Kloepping 1x3, 2 RBI.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): AF, Weaver (L) 6.0-4-8-2-5-6. Brod, Risum (W) 7.0-4-0-0-0-17.
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