The Butternut/Mercer Pioneers softball team braved the cold weather on April 20 to host the annual John "Stick" Furtak Memorial tournament. The girls mounted comebacks after giving up early leads and lost two close games, 8-6 against Hurley, and then 10-6 to Flambeau.
"I am really proud of our girls today,” said Butternut/Mercer Coach Glenn Wegner. “They really battled hard in the first game. After some adversity in the second game, they toughened up and rebounded to get back in the game but ultimately came up just short against a couple very solid teams.”
Game one for the Pioneers was a conference matchup with the Hurley Northstars. Hurley grabbed an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Pioneers answered with one of their own after a leadoff walk by Jersey Polencheck, who stole second and third base before scoring on a 2 out RBI single by Lizzie Pritzl.
Hurley scored a run in each of the next three innings to push build a 5-1 lead before the Pioneers scored again in the bottom of the fourth to get things going with an RBI single from Josie Wegner, inspiring the team to score four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead on RBI hits from Jersey Polencheck, Izzy Przybyski and Lizzie Pritzl, and double by Rylinn Rossi. Hurley answered in the top of the sixth with 3 runs to regain the lead. Without any action in the seventh inning the game ended with the 8-6 final score.
Josie Wegner pitched a complete game for the Pioneers allowing 8 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit batter and 1 strikeout.
The Pioneers faced the Flambeau Falcons in game two.
Flambeau took advantage of a cold start by the Pioneers defense that committed six errors that allowed 2 runs in the first inning, and 6 runs in the second. The Falcons’ timely hitting built a quick 8-0 lead.
The Pioneers shored up the defense but allowed another run in the top of the fourth and then the offense got rolling. After a leadoff single by Anya Brandenberg and Lizzie Pritzl reaching on a hit by pitch, Josie Wegner ripped a triple to score both runners and then scored herself on a RBI fielder's choice by Amber Eith to cut the lead to 9-3.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jersey Polencheck singled and stole second, then reached third on a passed ball and then continued to steal home. After a couple walks, Lizzie Pritzl delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to 9-5.
Flambeau scored an insurance run in the top of the sixth and Butternut/Mercer got an RBI single from Izzy Przybylski to make it 10-6. The Pioneers held the Falcons scoreless in the top of the seventh and mounted a rally in the bottom of the frame with hits from Rylinn Rossie and Josie Wegner but left them stranded to end the game.
Josie Wegner went the distance on the mound, giving up 6 earned runs on 13 hits, 6 walks and 7 strikeouts.
“Josie pitched great all day,” Wegner said. “She refused to come out and actually got stronger later in the games.”
Wegner said other than one bad inning, the defense played well with girls shifting around while playing shorthanded.
Anya Brandenberg was fantastic at first base, and Izzy Przybyski made some great catches in center, he said. Jersey Polencheck made several key plays at shortstop, and Lizzie Pritzl threw out two baserunners and had a great tag out at the plate.
“I am excited to get back to full strength for the second half of the season now that we have started to really solidify our lineup,” Wegner said.
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