JANESVILLE — A pitching change and a two-out home run in the fourth inning jolted the Janesville Craig softball team out of a lethargic start to Monday’s game at the Janesville Youth Sports Complex.
Senior pitcher Bailey Bienema pitched four hitless shutout innings of relief for the Cougars after Lake Geneva Badger (2-5 overall, 1-3 Southern Lakes) had grabbed a 4-1 lead, and Emily Kleinheinz hit two home runs — the one in the fourth to give some life to the Crag dugout and a two-run, go-ahead shot in the six — to help Craig (9-3, 4-1 Big Eight) pick up a 5-4 nonconference victory.
Mya Eichelt also contributed to Craig’s comeback with a solo home run of her own in the fifth.
“I’m just very proud of our team because (head coach Kristen) Worm had told us that we needed to get those hits, and that’s exactly what we did,” Kleinheinz said.
Eichelt also made a key defensive play in the third to keep the Badgers’ lead at three runs.
Badger had already brought in two runs in the inning thanks to an RBI groundout from Kailey Benson and a run-scoring single by Lylla Metcalf. Craig starter Maddie Schieve walked the two batters after Metcalf to load the bases with two outs.
That brought up Badger leadoff hitter Louise Blakeley, who had already singled in her last two plate appearances.
Blakeley hit a 1-1 pitch from Schieve toward Eichelt at second base. The ball took an unexpected bounce as Eichelt closed in. She bobbled it once but got it under control with her bare hand and flipped it to Kleinheinz at first for the final out of the inning. At least one more run would’ve scored had the out not been made, and the Badger threat would have been ongoing for at least one more batter.
Instead, the Cougars went to the dugout, and when they took the field in the top of the fourth, Bienema started her warmup pitches to start a relief appearance.
She walked the first batter she faced on four pitches but struck out the next two Badger hitters and induced an inning-ending grounder to short.
Relying on her riseball, Bienema finished out the game without giving up a hit and stranded all four base runners she put on via walks with the help of five strikeouts.
“Coming in for relief, you kind of have a job to finish,” Bienema said, “so when I go in for relief, I’m like, ‘I gotta get this done, I’m ready to go, I’m fresh, they haven’t seen me yet.’”
Back in the bottom of the fourth, Craig’s first two hitters were retired without issue, and Kleinheinz was trending toward a quick at-bat, too, after falling behind 0-2 in the count. But the third pitch in her third at-bat against Metcalf was in a good spot for her, and she launched it high over the fence in left field to get the Cougars one run closer.
Eichelt led off the fifth inning with her blast, also to left field, that pulled Craig to within 4-3. No. 9 hitter Abbie Claas poked a little bunt base hit down the third-base line to start the sixth inning, and Kleinheinz came up next.
She started by showing bunt and pulling back with Claas on the move to steal second. She dueled with Badger pitcher Metcalf to a full count, and that’s when she got another pitch she could drive.
Her second home run was more on a line than her first, but it cleared everything and gave Craig its 5-4 winning score and its first lead since going ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
“I was already confident about what the team was doing and from hitting one before that,” Kleinheinz said. “I knew it was a good time” to hit another one out.
The home runs in Monday’s game were just the latest displays from a Craig team that has shown a propensity for going deep in 2024. At least five Cougars have hit homers.
“I love that there’s so many of them that can do that,” Worm said. “They’re all as excited for each other as they are for themselves.”
The Cougars return to Big Eight action Wednesday afternoon at the Youth Sports Complex when they host Madison West. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
JANESVILLE CRAIG 5, LAKE GENEVA BADGER 4
Badger 022 000 0 — 4 6 0
Craig 100 112 X — 5 10 3
Leading hitters — Blakeley (LGB) 2x3, Metcalf (LGB) 2x4, Kleinheinz (JC) 2x4, Schaffner (JC) 2x4, Sikich (JC) 2x2. 3B — Schaffner (JC). HR — Kleinheinz (JC) 2, Eichelt (JC).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — LGB: Metcalf L, 5-9-5-5-4-5, faced two batters in the sixth; Golz 1-1-0-0-0-1. JC: Schieve 3-6-4-2-3-0; Bienema W, 4-0-0-0-4-5.
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