But team enjoys improbable playoff run
By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
A dominant pitching performance brought the Elkhorn Area High School softball team’s 2015 season to a close.
Beloit Turner’s Kelsie Packard no-hit the Elks June 2 at Delavan-Darien High School and Turner beat Elkhorn 5-2 in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal game.
The Elks finished the season with a record of 14-14 overall and finished 3-10 and in seventh place in the Southern Lakes Conference.
Turner advanced to the sectional final June 4 at Evansville and beat McFarland 7-1 to advance to the WIAA Division 2 State Softball Tournament.
The state softball tournament starts today and continues through Saturday in Madison at Goodman Diamond on the University of Wisconsin campus.
Elks’ coach Jacob Schueller said Packard’s threw with excellent velocity. Schueller said Packard probably threw in the mid-60s, which is fast for a high school pitcher.
“She pitched very well,” Schueller said. “We kind of got some bad breaks – what went in the book as errors, but were really just tough hops.”
Schueller said Elks’ pitcher Rachel Gosh also threw a fine game. Gosh allowed six hits and struck out three.
“She pitched well enough to keep us in the game,” Schueller said. “We couldn’t string together enough hits to keep up scoring with them.”
Schueller said Gosh made one mistake and allowed Packard a two-run home run in the first inning.
The Elks scored their two runs without the benefit of a hit.
Gosh led-off the top of the sixth inning with a walk, followed by a ground ball in the hole between short and third from the Elks’ Amy Kolacke.
The throw on the attempted putout went into foul territory, and Gosh scored and Kolacke took third. Kolacke later scored on a fielder’s choice.
“We had good at-bats,” Schueller said. “I was impressed with our approach. We fouled a lot of balls off and we saw a lot of pitches. We looked like we were comfortable in the (batter’s) box.”
The Elks advanced to the sectional semifinal after beating Columbus 5-3 May 29 at Columbus in the regional final for what Schueller said is the first regional softball title in school history.
The Elks opened their postseason May 27 with a 5-3 victory against East Troy. The Elks beat Whitewater 4-1 May 28 in a regional semifinal at Whitewater to earn the right to face Columbus.
Schueller, in his fourth season with the program, said all involved were emotional following the loss to Turner.
“It was good emotion, happy emotion,” Schueller said. “I’m just so full of pride and happy for these kids and the work they put in and what they’ve done for this program.”
Schueller said he’ll always consider graduating seniors Meghan Etten, Payton Barker, Abbie Kolacke and Jasmine Bogart-Falbo, with whom he spent four years, as “the group that pulled Elkhorn softball out of the gutter.”
