The Prescott Cardinals finally beat the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks to advance to the section final and put themselves one game away from a trip to Madison.
The Cardinals got off to a fantastic start, with Kelsey Sterud’s leadoff single kicking off a 2-0 first inning. Prescott would add two more in the second to open up a 4-0 lead. But Baldwin-Woodville had a response which would shrink the Cardinal lead to 4-3 by the end of the fourth inning. After Prescott was held at bay in the top half of the 5th, Baldwin-Woodville responded with a two run home run to take a 5-4 lead.
In the 6th, Meghan Richter would lead off with a base hit as the Cardinals tried to reignite their offense. All of this happening as popup thunderstorms loomed large over Western Wisconsin. Rory Zuehlsdorf then almost hit a home run, with the ball hitting the top of the fence in centerfield and returning to play. It was ruled a double. A sac fly would score Richter and Zuehlsdorf would be thrown out at third, the double play ending the inning with the game tied at 5. After nothing doing in the 6th, the Cardinals would get a 1-2-3 inning to send us to the 7th.
In the top of the 7th, Leah French delivered. With a perfectly placed single into the gap in center field, she would score Kelsey Sterud who got on via a hit by pitch. After a groundout ended the inning, Prescott had to hang on in the bottom of the 7th. A 1 pitch groundout would record the first out, before Baldwin-Woodville would respond with a single. Another out would be recorded, and then another single, giving Baldwin-Woodville two runners on and two out. Taylor Graf said enough of that, and she would strikeout the batter as the team emptied the dugout and mobbed Graf in the circle.
Prescott will face Somerset Thursday in the section final with the winner heading to Madison next week. The game is scheduled to be played at 4 PM at Islander Park in Cumberland, but according to sources the game could be changed if the location does not make geographical sense for either team. Cumberland is more than 90 minutes from Prescott and more than an hour from Somerset. If there are any changes, we will be sure to provide that information to you.
