By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School softball team gave one of the best teams in the state all it could handle last week.
The Elks lost 3-1 to Delavan-Darien May 5 in a Southern Lakes Conference game at home. The Comets are ranked No. 1 in Division 1 in the most recent Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association/WisSports.net state poll.
The Elks lost 8-5 May 3 in a SLC game at Waterford and lost 3-0 May 2 at home in a non-conference game against New Berlin Eisenhower.
The Comets and Elks both play in the WIAA’s Division 2. Elks coach Steve Remington said the performance against Delavan-Darien bodes well for the postseason.
“I was impressed with how we battled against one of the better pitchers in the state,” Remington said. “We may have struck out in the end, but we had quality at-bats.”
Rachel Gosh finished with the only hit against Comets pitcher Jenna Speth. Speth struck out 12.
“The box score doesn’t reflect the level of toughness displayed on the field,” Remington said. “An untimely error allowed them to score two runs in the first.”
Elkhorn pitchers Carolyn Griswold and Sarah Bechtel held Delavan-Darien (14-4, 5-4 SLC) to six hits. Remington said Bechtel’s performance was huge.
“We needed three innings and she got us three,” Remington said. “She handled the pressure well.”
The Comets scored two runs in the first inning and one run in the fourth. Gosh scored for the Elks (4-11, 3-7 SLC) in the bottom of the first inning.
Against Waterford (6-12, 3-8 SLC), the Elks cut their deficit to 5-3 with three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Waterford added three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Elkhorn rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh.
The Elks finished with 10 hits. Gosh and Hailey Wang each tallied two. Griswold and Laine Rudolf each drove in two runs.
Elkhorn tallied five hits against Eisenhower (14-5). Griswold pitched a complete game and allowed nine hits against three strikeouts.
