By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Lake Geneva Badger softball team started last week strong but could not keep up the momentum.
The Badgers (5-9, 3-6 Southern Lakes Conference) started the week with an 8-3 win over Kenosha Indian Trail (5-5) on May 5 and defeated Wilmot (9-8, 3-6 SLC) in eight innings for the first time since 2009 on May 6.
Coach Emily Stipek called it a big win for the program and said the seniors were big contributors.
“No one deserved the win more than them,” she said.
Senior Molly Schumacher went 2 for 4 and drove in all three Badger runs. Fellow senior Caitlynn Nugent went 2 for 4 with two doubles.
Underclassmen contributed as well as sophomore Kiley Johnson had three singles, freshman Morgan Moore had a double and a run scored, and freshman Cayleen Ryan went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.
The win capped off a three-game winning streak and resulted from great team play, according to Stipek. Stipek said everyone in the lineup had been producing big hits during the past three games.
Wilmot jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but Badger tied it up in the top of the fourth on a single by Schumacher that brought home Ryan and Moore.
Schumacher again came through in the top of the eighth with an RBI single that scored Ryan with the winning run.
Schumacher started the game and gave up just two runs. Jordan Stritesky came in on relief and kept the Wolverines off the scoreboard with five strikeouts over 4.1 innings of work.
Badger fell behind Indian Trail in the bottom of the first as well, 1-0. Badger scored three times to take the lead in the third innings and led the rest of the way. Indian Trail cut the lead to 3-2 with a single run in the fourth but Badger added three in the sixth and two more in the seventh.
Stritesky pitched the whole way striking out seven and giving up two earned runs. She also went 2 for 4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Ashley Nielsen went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Badger struggled the rest of the week. Badger lost 4-1 to Burlington (10-6, 7-3) on May 7, 6-0 to Union Grove (12-4, 5-3) on May 8, and 7-2 to Waterford (4-7, 2-6) on Friday. The Badgers also dropped two non-conference games at the Oconomowoc Invitational on Saturday losing 6-1 to Madison East (8-7) and 10-0 to New Berlin West (10-7).
Badger hosted Burlington on Monday, traveled to undefeated and No. 1-ranked Westosha Central on Wednesday, travel to Union Grove on Thursday, and play East Troy on Friday. The Badgers play in the Delavan Invitational on Saturday and host Delavan-Darien on Tuesday.
Tennis wins two of three
The Badger tennis team improved to 9-4 (5-1 SLC) with wins over Burlington and Waterford last week.
Badger defeated Burlington 5-2 on May 6. Winning singles players included Mitchell Dunaj (4-6, 6-1, 7-6) and Ahrum Zafar (6-3, 6-0). The doubles teams of Liam Bailey and Riley Nocek (6-0, 6-3), Adam Smith and Alex Kulik (6-1, 6-2), and Aidan Fleer and Jhon Nicia (6-1, 6-1) were also winners.
Badger beat Waterford 6-1 on May 8 to improve to 5-0 in the SLC. Kiley Lofy (6-1, 6-1), Eric Heinz (6-3, 6-3), and Dunaj (6-2, 6-2) each won singles matches. Josh Bakken and Bailey (7-6, 6-0), Kulik and Smith (6-4, 6-4) and Fleer and Nicia (6-2, 6-2) won their doubles matches.
“It was a good win,” Coach Paul Lauterbach said. “The singles played outstanding.”
Lauterbach said the team needs to continue to improve if it wants to finish on top of a conference that is up for grabs.
Badger did not help itself by losing its first SLC match to Union Grove 4-3 on Friday.
“It was a tough loss,” Lauterbach said. “Union Grove played well and matched up well against us.”
Lauterbach said it was a very close match and five of the eight schools could win the SLC title at the conference tournament at Delavan on Saturday.
Soccer drops two
The Badger soccer team fell to 6-5-1 (1-3 SLC) with two losses last week.
Badger lost to Elkhorn (5-8, 2-2) at home 2-1 on May 8. Elkhorn took a 2-0 lead on goals by Megan Skoczylas and Elise Gorecki. Hayley Aranda scored with an assist by Sammi DiVito but the Badgers could not score again.
Badger lost to Burlington (6-3-2, 3-0) 1-0 on May 9. The lone goal was scored by Madelyne Harry on an assist by Sydney McCourt in the first half. Burlington outshot Badger 10-3, but Autumn Mikrut had nine saves.
Golf finishes 10th
The Badger golf team took 10th with a score of 343 at the Ashenfelter Invitational in Janesville on May 3. Milwaukee University School won the event with a 319.
Badger was led by Jonathan Duggan’s 76. Jackson Rademaker carded an 82 and Tom Schneider had 86.
Baseball drops two
The Badger baseball team lost two games to Delavan-Darien last week. Badger lost to the Comets 11-2 on May 6 and 7-4 on May 8.
