By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The 2015 spring season came to a close Wednesday for both the Big Foot boys golf and softball teams.
Big Foot fell 12-2 to Evansville in a Division 2 regional opener, while the Big Foot golfers finished seventh overall at the 10-team regional played at the Geneva National Golf Course.
Edgewood was first in the team standings on the par-72 Player Course with a 320, followed by McFarland with a 330, Edgerton with 338 and Monroe with a 345.
All four teams advanced to the sectional.
Rounding out the team scores were Mount Horeb with a 346, Clinton with a 348, Big Foot with a 372, Evansville with a 387, Beloit Turner with a 452 and Brodhead with a 511.
Junior Ben Bauer led the Chiefs with an 87 (49-38), followed by junior Quintin Sharpe with a 93 (43-50), junior Steven Wolski with a 96 (49-47), sophomore Lars Larsen with a 96 (48-48) and freshman Jacob Watters with a 107 (54-53).
Bauer missed a sectional trip by one stroke, as the final qualifying spot went to Clinton junior Thad Hahn, who shot an 86.
Other individual sectional qualifiers were Clinton’s Rudi Gonstead (81), Mount Horeb’s Kyler Fager (81), Mount Horeb’s Mike Wenzel (84) and Hahn.
Big inning dooms Chiefs
Big Foot scored in the top of the first, but host Evansville cruised from there on the strength of a six-run third inning Wednesday afternoon en route to a 12-2 victory.
The loss ended Big Foot’s season at 12-10 overall. Evansville, the fourth seed, advanced to a regional semifinal Thursday at top-seeded Beloit Turner.
Courtney Schoenbeck led the offense with two hits and both of Big Foot’s RBI. Morgan Stalker had a hit and two runs scored, while Brooke Berryman had the Chiefs’ other hit.
Riley Davis took the loss for the Chiefs, as she allowed 12 hits, six earned runs and struck out four. Six of Evansville’s runs charged to Davis were unearned.
Big Foot closed its regular season last week with a 16-10 Rock Valley Conference win over host Whitewater. The Chiefs finished 8-7 in the RVC, good for second behind champion Beloit Turner.
The Chiefs scored in every at bat, including a five-run outburst in the top of the sixth inning.
Big Foot banged out 19 hits in the win, led by four from Davis, who also scored three times and drove in one. Other leaders included Sam Hartwig with three hits, three runs scored and an RBI; Yesenia Gonzalez with three hits, three runs scored and two RBI; Gabby Esarco with two hits, three runs scored and four RBI; Camryn Horton with two hits, a run scored and an RBI; and Stalker with two hits, a run scored and three RBI.
Schoenbeck chipped in with a hit and an RBI, while Briggs had a hit, a run scored and an RBI.
Four pitchers combined for Big Foot, including Stalker, who worked five innings, and allowed seven hits, two earned runs and one walk. Schoenbeck, Allyssa Jansen and Berryman worked two innings, and allowed two hits, seven earned runs, seven walks and struck out one.
The regional loss ended the Big Foot careers of Horton, Shelby Lundin, Berryman and Alexis Gonzalez.
Results of All-RVC voting and a season wrap up will run in a future edition.
