The 2024 season didn’t start exactly how the Marshall softball team had hoped. The Cardinals, reigning champions of the Capitol — South conference with a WIAA regional to their name the season prior, started the year ranked No. 9 in Division 3 of the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association (WFSCA) coaches poll. Back-to-back losses to Waterloo and Poynette bumped them from the list in the second iteration of the poll.
The early portion of this week offered an opportunity for Marshall to bounce back. The Cardinals played at home on consecutive days, first against Lodi on Monday, April 16 then against conference rival Cambridge on Tuesday, April 16. They came to play, squeaking out a 1-0 win over Lodi before rolling over Cambridge 13-0 the next day.
Monday’s Lodi game was a true pitcher’s duel. Marshall sophomore Kennedy Weisensel, the reigning Pitcher of the Year in the Capitol — South, was on her A-game. She pitched all seven innings allowing just three hits in her shutout. She struck out 13 Blue Devils and did not surrender a single walk. The furthest any Lodi base runner got was second base in the top of the final inning.
Not to be outdone, Lodi starter Bailey Stark had herself a strong day, too. She, too, pitched the entire game and allowed only five hits with five strikeouts. Her shutout lasted until the bottom of the sixth inning.
There, Weisensel led off for the Cardinals with a double to right field. The inning seemed doomed to yield no runs as the next two batters bowed out with a strikeout and a groundout. The latter at-bat did move Weisesensel to third base, though, as senior first baseman Kate Luzenski stepped to the plate. With the game on the line, Stark skipped a pitch past her catcher and allowed Weisensel to come home. Luzenski would ground out, but Marshall had the run it needed for the narrow victory.
Things were far less dramatic in the following day’s visit from Cambridge. The game was moved up an hour due to impending rain, and Marshall wasted no time getting runs on the board to end the contest in only five innings. The Cardinals scored one run in the bottom of the first, seven more in the second, and five to boot in the fourth in the eventual 13-0 victory.
Up and down the batting order, Marshall punished the ball all afternoon. Both Luzenski and senior second baseman Naomi Dahl crushed two doubles each, while Weisensel also hit one. Luzenski went 3-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Dahl went 3-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and Weisensel went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Senior center fielder Mollie Fritter also had a monster day at the dish, going 2-3 with a team-high three RBIs and two runs scored. Junior Lyliane Browne also knocked in a pair of runs to add to the fun in her 2-2 effort.
Senior Emily Brodbeck handled the Blue Jays on the mound. In her shortened four innings of work, she shut Cambridge down completely with only two hits allowed. She also did not allow any walks as she struck out five batters.
Marshall’s big win on Tuesday snowballed into two more blowout victories on the road to close the week. The Cardinals trucked conference opponent Belleville 16-1 on Thursday, April 18 and beat non-conference Columbus the next day by the same score.
Weisensel and Brodbeck split the pitching duties in Thursday’s Belleville win, which was ruled a mercy rule victory after the fifth inning. Weisensel pitched the first three innings without allowing a hit, striking out seven Wildcats in the process. Brodbeck pitched the final two, allowing only one hit with two strikeouts. A wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning allowed Belleville’s only run to score.
Marshall never hurt for run support as the Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the first inning, seven more in the second, one in the fourth, and six more in the fifth.
Stuntebeck delivered the team’s first homerun of the season in the top of the seventh inning, bringing in Brodbeck in the process. It was a strong day at the plate for both as Stuntebeck went 2-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored while Brodbeck led the team with three RBIs off her two hits. Brodbeck, Weisensel, senior Lacy Johnson, and freshman Carly Checky all hit doubles on the day. It was also an impressive day for Luzenski with three hits in four at-bats for two RBIs and two runs scored.
Marshall’s bats stayed hot in Friday’s trip to Columbus. Checky erupted for a team-high four RBIs off of a 2-4 performance. Fritter went 2-3 with a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Weisensel went 2-5 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. The Cardinals collected 14 hits total in the blowout, highlighted with five runs in the top of the first inning and six more in the final inning, the fifth.
Again, Weisensel and Brodbeck split pitching responsibilities. Weisensel threw the first four innings, allowing four hits and one run, which did not count against her earned run average as the runner reached home on an error. She finished the game with eight strikeouts. Brodbeck pitched the fifth inning and did not allow a hit.
The Cardinals’ four-game winning streak would come to a close to start the new week, however. Marshall hosted non-conference Lake Mills on Monday, April 22 and took a hard-fought 4-2 loss.
Weisensel got the start in the pitching circle, allowing nine hits and two walks for the four runs, three of which counted against her ERA. She also struck out three batters in her complete game effort.
She was also the star of the show on offense by smashing a solo homerun in the bottom of the third inning. This narrowed the Lake Mills lead to 2-1, but the L-Cats soon pushed two more runs across the board in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom half of that inning, Checky would come in to score in the midst of a double play. The late run proved to be too little, though, as Lake Mills prevailed 4-2.
The Lake Mills loss was just the start of a busy week for the Cardinals. They’ll now travel to Wisconsin Heights for a double-header on Tuesday, April 23, host Waterloo on Thursday, April 25, and travel to Sun Prairie West for a quad tournament on Saturday, April 27.
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Capitol — South conference standings
-as of Saturday, April 20
(overall records in parenthesis)
1. Waterloo, 4-0 (7-4)
2. Marshall, 2-1 (5-2)
3. Cambridge, 1-2 (3-4)
4. Wisconsin Heights, 0-1 (1-7)
5. Belleville, 0-3 (0-6)
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