I was a big week of multiple wins for the Lake Mills L-Cats. On May 4th, the Cats hosted conference rival Columbus. Junior pitcher Ava Kleinfeldt was in the circle for Lake Mills. She threw a 3-hit shutout and struck out 8 and walked only one. Lake Mills won the contest 11-0 in 6-innings. Senior Belle Topel once again hit towering home runs two times in the game. Leadoff hitter Avery Chilson led the Cats with 3 hits and freshman catcher Lily Doerr and junior 1st baseman Taylor Wollin added two hits each. Kleinfeldt got the win while Columbus senior Emmajo Peck got the loss.
Lake Mills streak of big wins continued in a huge fashion on May 5th by beating 2023 state qualifier Wisconsin Lutheran 3-2 at Rotary Park in an 11-inning thriller. It was a pitching dual between Avery Chilson of Lake Mills and Sophomore Sydney Vitagocal. Chilson stuck out 13 coupled with Kleinfeldt striking out 3 in relief. Vitagocal struck out 16 as well. The game ended in dramatic fashion when Chilson belted a walk-off solo homerun to right-center field in the bottom of the 11th inning to end the battle. Chilson, Lily Doerr, Topel, Kleinfeldt, and junior Emily Wollin each contributed a single. Chilson gave up two runs walking only one during the contest.
Lake Mills travelled to Greendale to face Martin Luther High School in a non-conference game on May 6. Lake Mills took control early and scored 14 runs in the first three innings to end the contest via the 3-inning mercy rule, 14-1. Avery Chilson and Lily Doerr each led the team with two hits. Ava Kleinfeldt gets another win striking out 4 and walking zero in 2 innings. Sophomore Aubrey Lepak pitched an inning of relief striking out one, walking one, and giving up one run.
On May 9th, the Cats played cross-town rival Lakeside Lutheran in a conference matchup. Lake Mills won the game 13-5. Avery Chilson’s red hot bat continued going 5x5 at the plate to lead the L-Cats. Lake Mills registered a whopping 19 hits against the Warriors with sophomore 3rd baseman adding a 3x5 day with a triple and Sellnow, Topel, Taylor Wollin, and Aubrey Lepak all adding two hits each. Avery Chilson got the win in the circle. She gave up 3 runs on 6 hits striking out 1. Lakesides Jenna Shadoski had a big night for the Warriors hitting 2 homeruns. Keighton Rank gets the loss giving up 13 runs on 19 hits and striking out 4.
On May 12, the L-Cats travelled to Poynette to face the state’s top ranked team. Lake Mills got off to a hot start scoring 2 runs off Division 3 Pitcher of the Year Holly Lowenberg in the 1st inning. Junior Ava Kleinfeldt hit a hard line drive to score two runs. Senior Belle Topel added a run with another solo home run in the 3rd inning. Poynette evened the score up in the bottom of the 3rd. Lake Mills scored 1 in the 4th and 2 more in the 6th and the game ended when senior Avery Chilson, in relief of Kleinfeldt, struck out Brooke Steinhorst. Lake Mills had 14 hits on the night and 2 errors. Ava Kleinfeldt notches the win with Chilson registering the save. Poynette ended with 8 hits and no errors and senior Holly Lowenberg records the loss. Taylor Wollin led the L-Cats at the plate at 3x4 with Topel, Kleinfeldt, and sophomore Haydenn Sellnow all adding 2 hits each. Every L-Cat batter had at least one hit
“This has been a nice stretch run for us. We are hitting the ball very well with aggression, great discipline, and pitch selection at the plate. Ava and Avery are a very potent 1-2 punch and we are backing them with runs and solid defense. Our sense of team chemistry is good after some mid-season challenges and I believe is directly correlated to our overall team success. Headed into the playoff, we were very excited to face Holly and through our practice routine and proper mind-set, we were well-prepared to face a pitcher of her caliber. But our mantra will never change: we only win games one pitch at a time and the only pitch that matters is the next one.”
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