The Wilmot softball team had to scratch and claw through extra innings to win the WIAA Sectional Championship, 5-3, over Beloit Memorial at Badger on Thursday. The win qualifies the Panthers for the WIAA State Tournament, and a quarterfinal match-up on June 6th in Madison.
Pregame – The Panthers won the WIAA Sectional Championship 5-3 over Beloit Memorial.Wilmot senior, Haley Lamberson (#1), scores the first run of the game. The Panthers won the Sectional Championship 5-3 over Beloit Memorial on Thursday.Wilmot Senior, Madi Zerr (#12), fires a pitch in the 1st inning of Thursday’s Sectional Championship game at Badger High.Wilmot senior, Riley Alexander (#3), makes this catch deep in left field. Wilmot won the game 5-3 and advances to the WIAA State Tournament in Madison.All-conference center fielder, Haley Lamberson (#1), settles in for a catch in the 2nd inning.Haley Lamberson (#1) scores her second run in the 3rd inning to put Wilmot up 2-0.Wilmot catcher, Kenzi Ketterhagen (#2), comes in to score in the 4th inning. This run put Wilmot up 3-0.Wilmot sophomore, Josephine Beinecke (#4) makes another big defensive play. The 3-0 game was starting to feel like Wilmot would coast to the win.The #9 batter for Beloit Memorial sent this ball deep over the centerfield wall. That makes the score 3-2 in the 5th inning.The Beloit Memorial base runners trot the bases after this deep HR.Wilmot freshman, Alana Buchanan (#14), pumps over to 1st base to keep the runner honest after catching a high pop-up. Wilmot senior, Sami Christiansen (#10), steps up to bat in the 4th inning. She was 2-for-4 at the plate, with an RBI in this at-bat.Senior right fielder, Ambriel Siggeman (#7), makes this catch in the 5th inning. Bottom of the 7th = Beloit Memorial leads off with a double to the gap in right center. Beloit Memorial ties the game here in the bottom of the 7th inning. A sacrifice fly to center field would tie up the score at 3-3.Wilmot sophomore, Anna Wischnowski (#8), ropes this ball down the left field line to start off the 8th inning. She would later score the game winning run in a 5-3 Sectional Championship victory.Game winning RBI = Senior, Riley Alexander (#3), puts this ball in play and Wilmot scores probably their two biggest runs of the year here.Wischnowski (#8) scores, and the ball (right) gets past the catcher!Wilmot head coach, Jennifer Jacobson (left), sends Hailie Morton (#5) home as the ball gats away from the Beloit catcher.Big insurance run = Coach Jacobson knows a thing or two, because she’s seen a thing or two. Wilmot now leads 5-3 in the 8th inning.Coach Jacobson makes the call to go with super-sophomore, Anna Wischnowski (left), to close out the bottom of the 8th inning.Anna Wischnowski (#8) winds up for this pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning.Zerr with a big stretch in 8th inning. Bigtime players make bigtime plays in bigtime situations.Madi Zerr (#12) stretches for the second out of the 8th inning while clinging to a 5-3 lead.With two outs, in the bottom of the 8th inning, freshman phenom, Alana Buchanan (#14), fields this routine grounder…….……. and Zerr makes the catch at 1st base. The Panthers are going to State! Wilmot Panthers 2019 Sectional ChampionsElite Eight – Headed to Madison Wilmot beat Beloit Memorial 5-3, in 8 innings, to win the WIAA Sectional Championship game at Badger High on Thursday.Celebration
Congrats lady Panthers. Now it’s time to get back towork. Often times teams feel satisfied that they’ve exceeded their goals by making it to State, and they’re happy just to have made it. Don’t fall into that. Now is the time to get really greedy. Go up there, out-work and out-hustle everybody, and steal that title! “The inches we need are everywhere around us.”
“On this team we tear ourselves, and everyone else around us, to pieces for that inch.”
