The Fastpitch Chronicle

Poynette opened the season with a trip to Wautoma where they recorded a 9-0 victory behind the pitching of junior righthander Mattie Bredeson who twirled a one-hitter with no walks and 15 strikeouts. The only ball hit out of the infield was the ground ball in the whole to rightfield.

The Pumas got on the board in the first inning whe Rachel Renz drew a base on balls with one out. She quickly swiped second base and scored on senior Haley Radewan’s rbi double off the fence in leftfield. Radewan would later score on an rbi single by senior Brooke Dredske.

Bredeson allowed just the one base runner, that single by Peterman in the second. Facing 22 batters, Bredeson threw 20 first pitch strikesand never went to a three-ball count.

The Pumas scored five runs in the second on a leadoff walk to Allison Tomlinson. A couple of well placed bunts by Sidney Gorman and Mya Knuteson resulted in successive errors and when Ashley Hellenbrand drew a base on balls it brought up the top of the order. Maegan Brookins promptly singled to score one while Renz followed with an infield single. Paige Doherty hit a ball that was errored at first before Tomlinson flew out to center to end the five-run inning.

“We were able to get some balls down in bunting situations and forced some defensive play,” said Head Coach Bob Tomlinson. 

The Pumas scored two more in the top of the third when Gorman doubled down the leftfield line and Mya Knuteson drove a ball deep to the fence in leftcenter for a run scoring  double. She scored on flyball to left off the bat of Ashley Hellenbrand.

That would be all the offense the Pumas could muster as Wautoma’s defense settled down after the third allowing no hits the rest of the way. Poynette had just five hits in the game but coaxed five walks out of the Wautoma pitching.

On Saturday the Pumas hosted Stratford and Monona Grove. The Pumas took on Stratford in their first game  as the visitors, recording a 7-1 win.  Maegan Brookins opened the game wit a sharp single, stole second and moved to third on a single by Rachel Renz who quickly swiped second base. Haley Radewan then grounded out to shortstop but Brookins scored on the play. Renz then scored on another infield ground ball to shortstop and quickly Poynette had a 2-0 lead.

Mattie Bredeson was in the circle for the Pumas where she allowed a leadoff single and then struck out the next three Tiger batters. She continued to be tough on the Stratford batters although not having her best “stuff.”

“Mattie’s velocity was certainly there today but her command and control were not what they were yesterday,” said the coach. “She battled all game long though and wound up fanning 14 and walking two.  She had to throw a lot of pitches to get it done though. I’m sure she learned the value of an ice bag at the end of the day after pitching.”

AllisonTomlinson singled to lead off the second and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Paige Doherty. She later scored on a run scoring single by Ashley Hellenbrand. The Pumas scored a single run in the fourth when Mya Knuteson singled and Hellenbrand doubled to the fence in leftfield.  With runner on two and three Renz sent Knuteson home with a single. Three runs in the top of the seventh salted the game away for Poynette. Radewan and Sorge each single in the inning.

In the final game of the day in Poynette the Pumas topped Monona Grove 13-3 in five innings. The Silver Eagles struck early with a run in the top of the first when the leadoff batter tripled past Renz in rightfield. She scored on a single before Mattie Bredeson worked out of further trouble.

The Pumas “answered back” in the bottom of the first with three runs on four hits including successvie singles by Brookins, Renz and Radewan.  The first run scored after Brookins had singled and stole second base followed by an infield single by Renz.  Renz then stole second with Brookins scoring on the throwdow to second. Radewan created trouble with an infield single and stole second to put runnrers at two and three. When Hellenbrand doubled both runners scored.

Bredeson had given way to freshman Casey Fountain in the second inning due to a high pitch count over two days. Fountain retired the Silver Eagles in a 1-2-3 inning in the second and fanned two in the process.  She got into trouble in the third by walking the #9 batter and allowing a double to score the first run of the inning. She mustered a pop up to second but walked t he ensuing batter. Hellenbrand entered the game with two on and one out.  She gave up a quick single which scored a run before getting out of the inning. She worked the fourth and fifth allowing now runs.

Poynette had a big eight-run third inning to create some separation between the two teams. Six hits along with three walks created all the runs.

Hellenbrand was credited with the win in relief, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out none.  Poynette’s leading hitters were Brookins (3x3), Radewan (2x4),and  Hellenbrand (2x4). Makayla Sorge had a double in the fifth inning.

Poynette hosts Wisconsin Heights on Tuesday at 5:00 pm.

In Poynette's three-team round robin on Saturday Stratford nipped Monona Grove 4-2 with a pair of runs in the first and two more in the third.  The two teams combined for 21 total hits in the game.