By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Saturday Morning the Merrill softball team traveled to Portage High School for a pair of games. In the first games against Monona Grove the Jays took an early lead and never looked back as they ten-run-ruled Monona in five innings by a score of 13-3.
After sitting down the Monona batters in order in the top of the first inning Merrill would strike for three runs in their half of the inning. Kelsie Belfiori would lead off the inning with a double to left field, followed by Patience Pyan who singled to left field, where Belfiori would try to score from second and get thrown out at the plate. Maddix Bonnell then came to the plate and delivered a drive over the center field fence for a two run homerun. Calli Oberg would follow Bonnell in the order and hit a single to right field, then move over to second after a walk to Taylor Krueger. Lindsey Casper would then come through with an RBI single to right field making the score 3-0. In the bottom of the second inning Molly Weix would lead off with a double, allowing Patience Pyan to drive her in with another single.
Monona Grove was able to cut the lead to 4-2 in the third inning on the power of a two run homer, but the Bluejays would respond with four more runs in their half of the inning to extend the lead to 8-2. A single by Megan Schroder started the rally for the Jays, she was followed by Ally Semling who would also single to advance Schroder to third base. Molly Weix would then hit a single to score Schroder. An error on a grounder to the shortstop allowed Pyan to reach first base and score another Merrill run. Following a Bonnell walk to load the bases, a single by Calli Oberg would score two more runs making the Bluejay lead 8-2.
The Bluejays would score two more in the bottom of the fourth off of singles by Semling and Belfiori to extend their lead to 10-2. Monona Grove would score one run in the fifth inning but Merrill stuck back with three in the fifth to end the game 13-3.
Jays fall to Portage
In the second game of the day Merrill would go up against Portage. It was a back and fourth affair with Portage eventually coming out on top by a score of 11-10.
Portage would get the jump on the Jays in the first inning scoring two runs. It wasn’t until the third inning where Merrill was able to respond with five runs of their own. A single by Kelsie Belfiori was enough to score Makayla Heller. A bases loaded error on a Taylor Krueger ground ball allowed the Jays to score two more runs and take a 3-2 lead. Lindsey Casper would then single and drive in two more runs to extend the Merrill lead to 5-2. Portage would bounce back with two runs in their half of the third to make the score 5-4.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Portage would take the lead on Merrill with a four run inning. Merrill responded with two of their own runs in the top of the fifth inning. A bases loaded walk to Casper would score one run for the Jays, and a bases loaded wild pitch would score the other, making the score 8-7. Portage extended their lead to 10-7 in the bottom of the inning, however Merrill struck back with three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game. A Maddix Bonnell single would score Kelsie Belfiori and move Patience Pyan, who doubled the at bat before, to third base. A Calli Oberg ground out would then score Pyan, leaving Bonnell at second base where she would score as Taylor Krueger singled to right field, tying the game at 10-10. Portage would then walk off in the bottom of the seventh inning on a single to center field winning by a score of 11-10.
Merrill lose tight one to Everest
On Thursday afternoon the Merrill softball team hosted D.C. Everest for a double header. In the first of the two games Merrill would fall to Everest by a score of 7-6.
Everest jumped on Merrill early scoring four runs in the first inning, and another on in the second inning to take an early 5-0 lead. Merrill was able to cut into the Everest lead as they scored two runs in their half of the second inning. A walk to Ally Semling and a single by Megan Schroder set up Molly Weix for her two RBI double to make the score 5-2. The Jays would put up another run in the bottom of the third inning after an error allowed Maddix Bonnell to get to second base, Calli Oberg was able to drive her in with a single to center.
Everest was able to take that one run back in the fourth inning bringing the score to 6-3. Weix was able to come up with another RBI as she drove in Schroder, following her double, with a sacrifice fly to left field. In the fifth inning Everest scored one run extending their lead to 7-4 going into the final two innings. In the bottom of the seventh inning the Lady Jays were able to start a rally and score two runs, but were unable to get a third run to keep the game going as they lost 7-6.
Jays shut out Everest
In the second game of the double header Merrill was able to avenge themselves with a 8-0 victory as Kelsie Belfiori did not allow a single Everest run.
The Jays took the lead on Everest in the second inning, scoring two runs. A double to center field for Makayla Heller scored Lindsey Casper who reached on a walk. Heller was followed up by Molly Weix who singled in Heller to extend the lead. It wasn’t until the fifth inning when Merrill would strike again for two more runs. Back-to-back singles by Belfiori and Patience Pyan, followed by a ground out to move them to third and second set up Calli Oberg for her two RBI double to center field.
Already up 4-0 in the top of the seventh inning the Bluejays rallied for four more runs. Singles from Pyan and Maddix Bonnell allowed a single by Taylor Krueger to score Pyan and advance Bonnell to third. A single by Lindsey Casper scored Bonnell from third and moved Molly Weix, who was running for Krueger, to second base. Megan Schroder would single to score Weix, and Makayla Heller would finish off the rally with another single that scored Casper to make the score 8-0.
Kelsie Belfiori pitched all seven innings for Merrill and struck out three batters, walked three batter and only allowed four hits while not allowing a run.
The Merrill softball team will be at the MARC on Tuesday as they play host to Wausau East in a double header starting at 4:00 p.m.