By NATE BEIER | For the County Line
The third time was the charm for the Royall softball team, which traveled to Wonewoc-Center for a Division 5 regional quarterfinal game with the Wolves on May 24.
The Panthers had played Wonewoc-Center just a week earlier, falling 8–5, but showed improvement from their 18–10 loss earlier in the year.
Royall pounced on the scoreboard early, scoring four runs in the first. To start the rally, Emma Herek walked, and then Savannah DeWitt pushed her to second with a single. The pair advanced on a walk by Kirstin Lunde. With the bases loaded, McKenzie Baeseman came to the plate and singled to center field, scoring two. Lunde scored on a wild pitch, and Baeseman was driven home on Ally Friedl’sdouble.
The Panthers came back to score another in the second, two more in the third and one in the fourth. The fifth inning, however, was the rally Royall needed to lock up the win.
Claire Herek hit the first of four straight doubles by the Panthers’ lineup, scoring Emma Herek and DeWitt, and Royall took a 10–2 lead. Lunde scored Claire Herek, Baeseman drove in Lunde, and Friedl allowed Baeseman to run home. Then Friedl scored on a wild pitch.
Wonewoc-Center scored one in bottom of the fifth, but couldn’t overcome Royall’s rally, falling 14–3 in an abbreviated game.
Baeseman finished with three hits and four RBI. Lunde and Friedl each had two hits; Royall tallied 11 total hits. Wonewoc-Center was limited to just a pair of hits.
DeWitt earned the win, striking out two and walking eight. The Royall defense helped strand 10 of the Wolves’ players on the bases.
De Soto 16, Royall 1 (4)
Royall fell 16–1 in four innings to the top-seeded team, De Soto, in a regional semifinal May 25.
To set up the win, the Pirates scored eight runs in the second inning and six in the bottom of the fourth.
Royall’s run came in the third inning, when Emma Herek doubled and scored Emily Olson.
DeWitt and Baeseman combined to walk 11 and strike out no one in the loss.
De Soto’s Roxanna Haakenson struck out three, walked one from the mound and collected two hits and three RBI at the plate.
Cashton defeated De Soto 4–1 in the regional final and faced Bangor, a 4–1 regional final winner against Ithaca, in a sectional semifinal game May 30.
Royall ends the season 5–17 overall.
