In only their second season of existence, going from one 18-U team last year to three teams this seasonThe Hurricanes organization did well. Here is a weekend recap.
This was the first tournament weekend for all of our teams at the same place. Collectively, we battled monsoon rains (more on that later), shortened games, dropped games, and our competition..
FRIDAY
· The 12u’s kicked off the weekend with a game vs. the Franklin Force. A number of errors and a couple of other issues, made this an uphill battle in a loss, 4-2
· The 18-U team played the home team Blazers in our 1st game together. Jess Butzen (UW Platteville recruit) scattered seven hits and one run with 10K’s over five innings, This game turned in the 3rd inning when the Blazers led off the inning with a double. Amanda Kendziora (Indiana Tech Recruit) proceeded to pick the runner off of second base for a big out. This gave us a spark for the top of the 4th. Amanda Kendziora hit a double down the right field line to lead off, Morgan Nelson(Union Grove) drew a walk, Miranda Greenwood (UW Lacrosse recruit) hit a solid single to drive in Amanda Kendziora. In the 5th the Blazers went three up, three down. Then the Hurricanes went to work again. With 2 outs, Cori Semler (UW Stevens Point Recruit) punched a single too LF, followed by Tori Meyer (Marian Recruit)for runners on 1st and 3rd, Amanda Kendziora drove a single to the gap to drive in two runs for a 3-1 margin. The Blazers managed a triple in the 6th who was left stranded for a 3-1 Hurricanes win!
· Monsoon rains then hit. An inch and half of rain t made for swampy fields.
SATURDAY
· This day produced a four-hour delay, the loss of one pool game off the schedule and a shortening of games to one hour. In addition the event went from double elimination to a single elimination format.
· The 16-U’s Hurricanes vs. the New Berlin Heat wound up in a 1-1 tie.
· The 16s started off with an early 2-0 lead vs. the Whitnall Rage. Some defensive miscues cost the 1st year 16-u Hurricanes the win.
· The 12s picked up game #2 with the Blazers and won 9-8 in come-from-behind fashion for their 1st tournament game win of the season!
· The 16u’s started off with an early 4-0 lead vs. the New Berlin Heat but ended up losing 9-5 after the umpires lost track of the clock and allowed an extra 10 minutes to be played.
· The 18-U Hurricanes were up next. Facing two collegiate Freshmen pitchers from the New Berlin Magic in Jamie Kilps and Becky Hanson, the Hurricanes countered with Jessie Butzen. This was a classic pitcher’s duel. Butzen held the Magic on two runs and six hits. Jamie Kilps and her rise ball held us to two runs on five hits before the "drop dead rule" cost us for a final of 2-1 Magic.
· The final game of the night saw a rematch with the Magic in a4 vs. 6 seed game. The Magic used Becky Hanson while the Hurricanes threw Lindsey Semler (Hartford Union). Lindsey threw four strong innings and left with a 4-2 lead. She had scattered six hits with three strikeouts. The game was 0-0 until the 3rd when the Hurricanes got it going. Four straight hits and they scored four runs before an out was recorded by the Magic leaving 1 stranded. Cori Semler had 2 rbi in the inning along with Miranda Greenwood chiming in for one. Both Teams swapped pitchers for the 5th inning. With Kilps and Butzen back in the circle, the Magic tacked on two more runs, both unearned to claim a 4-6 victory. The Hurricanes threatened in the bottom half with 2 runners on. The Magic would win the 18-U bracket.
· Last team standing our 1st year 12u team
SUNDAY
· 12-U vs The Falls Angels Red. We were down 4-0 with the Angles up to bat with two outs when we noticed a batter out of order. However, the umpire in error, issued a warning to the Angels (high school rule vs. ASA) and allowed play too continue. This allowed four more runs to score! This left the Hurricanes with our their fourth pitcher due to injury and a 8-0 hole to dig out of. That proved too be too much in a loss 11-0.
The rain played havoc with the schedules but the Blazers did get the fields playable for all games in spite of over two inches of rain. Even with some negative issues, we saw some good softball.
Go Hurricanes!!!
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