The softball rivalry between Marshall and Waterloo has lived up to the hype in 2024. Last season, the Cardinals of Marshall won an undefeated Capitol — South conference championship while the Pirates of Waterloo enjoyed a magical run to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Division 4 state title game.
Both teams returned plenty of talent from those teams, setting the stage for a pair of stellar matchups this spring. Waterloo nabbed the first, knocking off the then state-ranked Cardinals 2-1 thanks to a walk-off hit from sophomore Marissa Spoke.
Marshall was out for revenge in the rematch, played on its home diamond on Thursday, April 25. Six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and a strong pitching performance from sophomore Kennedy Weisensel helped the Cardinals do just that in a 7-3 victory.
“The girls left that first conference loss with a sour taste in their mouth,” Marshall head coach Kevin Knudson said. “The team showed up on Thursday to prove who was the better team. At the beginning of the season, with the loss of a good senior class, the girls were not expected to do that great. But, I am proud of them for how hard they are working and improving everyday. It was nice for the girls to win a big game over a good team that is ranked and went to state last year. We’re still stacking the building blocks.”
The first three innings of the game went scoreless as Weisensel battled with Waterloo freshman pitcher Ally Schaumann. Both delivered gems in the first game and brought a similar effort in the rematch. Weisensel struck out seven in the win, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. Schaumann kept the Cardinals off the board until the bottom of the fourth inning.
There, junior catcher Sydney Stuntebeck led the inning off with a single. Junior Lyliane Browne bunted her over to second base, setting the stage for senior Kate Luzenski. She stepped up and punched a single into center field, bringing in Stuntebeck for the first run of the game. The inning ended soon after, but Marshall’s offense fully opened the floodgates in the bottom of the fifth.
Junior Makayla Nemec led off by reaching on an error and the run was on. Weisensel and senior Emily Brodbeck followed with singles to load the bases. Stuntebeck drew a walk to bring in the second run of the game. Another Waterloo error on a grounder from Browne brought Weisensel home. Luzenski got another RBI on a groundout, bringing home Brodbeck.
With two outs on the board, the Marshall bats stayed hot. Seniors Mollie Fritter and Naomi Dahl connected on back-to-back singles. Fritter’s brought in one run and Dahl’s cleared the bases to bring in two. When the dust had settled, the Cardinals had rattled off six runs to go ahead 7-0.
To Waterloo’s credit, the Pirates responded in the next inning. They picked up four singles in the top of the sixth inning. Senior Brenna Huebner and junior Alix McCarthy did it to get themselves in scoring position. Spoke poked a grounder to right field to score Huebner. Schaumann followed with a liner to the same spot to bring McCarthy home.
Still trailing 7-2, Waterloo continued to bite away at the lead in the top of the seventh. Freshman Callie Davison got on base with a single and was soon brought home on a booming double from senior Katrina Freund. The comeback attempt was stopped short, though, as Weisensel iced the game with a strikeout to confirm a 7-3 victory.
Marshall followed up Thursday’s big conference win with an impressive victory over a Division 1 program. The Cardinals participated in a quad at Sun Prairie West High School on Saturday, April 27 and handed visiting Slinger a 4-3 loss.
Weisensel was electric once again, striking out nine Owls in her complete game effort. She allowed eight hits but only one walk.
At the plate, Fritter was the catalyst of the victory with a pair of homeruns. Her first was a two-run shot in the bottom of the second inning, also scoring Luzenski. Her second was a walk-off. She was the first batter to approach the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with the game tied at three runs each. She took the second pitch she saw for a ride, lifting it over the fence in center field for the dramatic victory.
Waterloo also followed Thursday’s action with a win. The Pirates got their frustrations out at home against non-conference Randolph on Saturday, April 27 with a 15-0 beatdown in just three innings.
Schaumann only allowed one hit in the shutout victory. She struck out four batters in her three innings of work.
Offensively, Freund, sophomore Emma Baumann, Schaumann, and senior Leeah Dorn all drove in two RBIs each. Freund, Davison, Huebner, and Baumann also all came in to score multiple times.
The Pirates followed that with a heartbreaking 1-0 road loss to Lakeside Lutheran on Monday, April 29. It was a pitcher’s duel between Schaumann and Lakeside senior Kieghtan Rank. Schaumann was on fire, going six innings with seven strikeouts. She allowed seven hits, eventually leading to Lakeside’s one earned run in the bottom of the third inning. Rank threw a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits as she struck out nine Pirates.
Waterloo and Marshall are now tied atop the Capitol — South conference standings at 5-1. Marshall is 9-3 overall while Waterloo is 10-6.
Up next, Marshall will return to conference play with a trip to Cambridge on Thursday, May 2. The last time those two met, the Cardinals crushed the Blue Jays 13-0 in five innings. They’ll close the week by hosting Lakeside Lutheran on Friday, May 3 and participating in a tournament at Chilton High School on Saturday, May 4.
As for Waterloo, the Pirates are back in action with nothing but home games for the remainder of the week. Waterloo will host Wisconsin Heights on Tuesday, April 30, Jefferson on Thursday, May 2, and Westfield on Friday, May 3.
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Capitol — South conference softball standings
(overall records in parenthesis)
-as of Monday, April 29
T1. Marshall, 5-1 (9-3)
T1. Waterloo, 5-1 (10-6)
3. Cambridge, 1-2 (3-6)
4. Wisconsin Heights, 0-3 (1-10)
5. Belleville, 0-4 (1-9)
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