Softball roundup: Risum leads Brodhead from pitcher's circle as defending D-3 champ wins postseason opener

Top-seeded Brodhead began its Division 3 postseason run with a 4-1 win over No. 8 seed Columbus on Tuesday.

Junior pitcher Ava Risum struck out 15 Columbus hitters for Brodhead and took a no-hitter into the seventh, but Columbus’ Mariyah Nachreiner started that inning with a home run to break up both Risum’s shutout and no-hitter.

Sophie Leitzen led off the game with a home run for Brodhead, and the hosts tacked on small-ball runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

Brodhead will learn its next opponent Wednesday after Lodi hosts Walworth Big Foot. The Chiefs beat Brodhead in the second game of a doubleheader on May 14.

BRODHEAD 4, COLUMBUS 1

Columbus 000 000 1 — 1 2 1

Brodhead 100 111 X — 4 6 2

HR — Nachreiner (C), Leitzen (B).

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — C: Hart L, 6-6-4-4-5-2; B: Risum W, 7-2-1-1-1-15.

No. 1 Jefferson 6, No. 9 Evansville 0 — Ashlyn Enke’s dominant regular season carried right over into the postseason.

Enke, a junior right-hander for the top-seeded Eagles, struck out 14 in a one-hitter as they beat the ninth-seeded Blue Devils in a Division 2 regional semifinal Tuesday.

Enke struck out the side in the first and second innings, notching her first eight outs via punchout. Enke took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, when her counterpart — Hailey Ross — doubled to left field with two outs.

Enke threw 84 pitches, 61 for strikes.

Hildie Dempsey led off the Jefferson first with a single, took second on Lily Fairfield sacrifice bunt and scored on Bre Mengel’s ground ball single to right. Enke dug in next and plated Mengel on a hard-hit ground ball double to left.

In the Eagles’ third, Fairfield singled with one away, stole second, reached third on a passed ball and scored via error. With two outs, Aeryn Messmann drove home Mengel on a single to right.

Sixth-ranked Jefferson (21-6) tacked on two-out runs in the fourth (via error) and fifth (when Mengel scored on a wild pitch) for the final margin.

JEFFERSON 6, EVANSVILLE 0

Evansville 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Jefferson 202 110 x — 6 8 0

Leading hitters — Mengel (J) 2x3. 2B — Ross (E), Enke (J).

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — E: Ross L, 6-8-6-5-0-2. J: Enke W, 7-1-0-0-1-14.

No. 2 Poynette 2, No. 7 Clinton 1 — The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Pumas responded in the bottom half of that inning then tacked on a go-ahead run in the fifth in a WIAA Division 3 regional game Tuesday.

Clinton hit back-to-back one-out singles in the first, then executed a double steal of second and home to take the lead.

Poynette’s Grace Gavinski tied the game with a two-out RBI single, the the Pumas took advantage of a couple of errors in the fifth to score the go-ahead run.

Clinton pitcher Ashley Theisen had 14 strikeouts in her six innings of work. She also went 2 for 3 at the plate. Pumas pitchers Morgan Gunderson and Kassidy McCaffery combined for 12 strikeouts.

POYNETTE 2, CLINTON 1

Clinton 100 000 0 — 1 3 3

Poynette 100 010 X — 2 5 0

Leading hitters — Theisen (C) 2x3, Mackey (P) 2x3. 2B — Theisen (C).

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — C: Theisen L, 6-5-2-0-2-14. P: Gunderson 4-3-1-1-2-6; McCaffery W, 3-0-0-0-0-6.

No. 3 Marshall 8, No. 6 Beloit Turner 7 — The Trojans put up a two-run rally in the top of the seventh to tie the Cardinals, but Lyliane Browne hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame to lift the hosts in a Division 3 regional contest.

Trailing 7-5 and down to its last out, Turner had Maddy Hoenig on first after she reached on a fielder’s choice. Kamryn Clark stepped up to the plate and smashed a double into center that allowed Hoenig to score from first.

Autumn Meris followed with an RBI double of her own that tied the score.

Clark finished with two hits and three RBI, while Meris also had two hits and two driven in.

MARSHALL 8, BELOIT TURNER 7

Turner 104 000 2 — 7 11 3

Marshall 213 100 1 — 8 9 1

Leading hitters — Davis (BT) 3x4, Clark (BT) 2x4, Meris (BT) 2x4, Browne (M) 2x4, Checky (M) 2x3. 2B — Meris (BT), Clark (BT), Hoenig (BT), Luzenski (M). HR — Browne (M), Stuntebeck (M).

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — BT: Saunders 3-6-6-3-1-1; Pozzani 2-2-1-0-1-0; Wells L, 1 1/3-1-1-1-0-1. M: Weisensel W, 4-9-7-7-3-6; Brodbeck 3-2-0-0-1-2.