BELOIT — It seemed like no matter how hard the Beloit Memorial softball team wallopped the ball, an Elkhorn defender was always there to make a great play.
A rocket off the bat of Trinity Winfield or Brooklynne Hereford-Foster would be snagged by shortstop Mylee Calvillo or a solid fly ball from Jasmine Smith that seemed to be tailing away would be run down by center fielder Ellie Jacobson.
So Purple Knights’ senior Allie Gustafson did what any reasonable player would do: she simply smashed the ball over every fielder’s head and prevented them from making a play.
Gustafson’s solo homer propelled Beloit to a 1-0 win over Southern Lakes Conference foe Elkhorn on a warm and sunny Wednesday at Telfer Park.
It was an extra special moment for Gustafson as it was the final home game of her prep career.
“It feels amazing,” Gustafson said “We had our senior night last night, but this really just brings it all together. It was a nice way to end it.”
Elks’ starter Veronica Siegler had allowed just one hit through three innings when Gustafson stepped to the plate with one out in the bottom of the fourth. She took the first pitch she saw and the hard-hit ball just bounced off and over the saggy top of the makeshift fence in center field. After the umpires conferred, it was ruled a home run.
“I rolled over on my first (at-bat),” said Gustafson, who finished 2-for-3 from the plate. “I was like 'They think they might have an advantage,' but I was just looking for that one and she gave it to me.”
“Good thing our fence is a little giving,” head coach Chad Davis said with a laugh. “But anything that hits top of it and goes over is a home run, so I was excited. Allie is by far our team leader, so I look to her a lot to spark them.”
Siegler was strong as she allowed just four hits with Jasmine Smith and Chesney Bishop both adding singles. Her defense was stout behind her as it robbed several Beloit hits.
“As hard as they hit the ball tonight, I could never be mad,” Davis said. “They have started playing as a team and playing smart, fundamental ball. I wish we could have our first few games back, especially against Burlington when we didn't have a very good showing in our first two games here. Ever since then, the girls may have a hiccup here or there, but their bats have been amazing.”
“Amazing” also might be the way to describe freshman Rilynne Cleland’s performance in the circle. She allowed just two hits and one walk with a strikeout in seven scoreless innings.
“I was confident on the mound today,” Cleland said. “I finished off the Badger game last night and was a little sore, but I came in today knowing that I pitched the last game against (Elkhorn) very well and knowing that certain batters can't hit certain spots. So, I was trying to feed off of that.”
Cleland sent Elkhorn (6-15, 4-9 SLC) down 1-2-3 in each of the final three innings. After also setting the Elks down in order the first two frames, she worked around two baserunners in the third with one out by inducing a fly out and ground out to escape unscathed.
“I was using a lot of my drop curves,” she said. “They were cutting really nice and every swing was over top of them.”
“Rilynne is probably one of my most well-rounded players, and as a freshman that's very exciting,” Davis said. “I have put a lot on her and expect a lot out of her, and her being the ball player she is and having the mentality she does, she accepts that very well.”
In the fourth inning, Calvillo led off with a single before Michala Meinen grounded out and the Knights’ defense made a great play as Jacobson lined out to Jasmine Smith, who snatched the hit and doubled the runner off at third.
It was one of several nice plays from Beloit’s error-free defense as second baseman Winfield made a nice catch on a ball drifting away from her in the sixth and first baseman Abigail Middleton had a solid grab along the fence on a pop out later in the same frame.
“They couldn't have played a better game of defense if they wanted to,” Davis said. “They've just become a team and every one of them has stepped up. And once one sparks them, they all follow right along.”
It has been a strong week for the Knights (6-7, 10-10), who played well in a 2-1 loss to Westosha Central, which is 15-2 and ranked ninth in Division 1 by Wissports.net, and beat Badger 11-4 Tuesday.
Beloit will finish the regular season on Thursday at Westosha before the postseason begins next week.
“We could play some good ball and move a little further than we have,” Davis said. “When the girls play ball like this, they can beat anybody. I don't care what their record is or who they are.”
• LINESCORE:
BELOIT MEMORIAL 1, ELKHORN 0
Elk 000 000 0 — 0 2 0
BM 000 100 — 1 4 0
Leading hitters: Elk, Calvillo 1x3; Schliepp 1x2. BM, Gustafson 2x3, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Smith 1x3; Bishop 1x3.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Elk, Siegler 6.0-4-1-1-0-0. BM, Cleland 7.0-2-0-0-1-1.
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