Bluejays bounce Bucs from playoffs

Athens plays in today’s regional championship

Athens senior Grace Johnson isn’t afraid to get her uniform dirty while playing on the softball diamond.

A good example of Johnson taking a risk is when she led too far off second base against Prentice in last Wednesday’s playoff win. She was quickly able to dive back safely into second base, but her Bluejays uniform was full of dirt.

Her Athens head coach, Craig Diedrich, told her when she advanced to third base that she sure likes to make things interesting out there. That might be the case but surely coach Diedrich would love to have more players in future seasons who are as aggressive as Johnson is on the base pads.

The Athens softball team took a big first step toward its goal of playing in a home WiAA Division 5 sectional championship this season, by easily downing Prentice, 15-0 in three innings in last Wednesday’s regional semifinal. Athens now plays against Drummond today (Wednesday) in a home regional championship.

The sectional semifinal would be this Monday, June 21, at an unknown location at this time and the sectional championship is at 4 p.m. next Wednesday, June 23, in Athens.

Johnson displayed a big smile after her team’s big playoff-opening victory against Prentice. Athens players doused head coach Diedrich with the water bucket following the win on a sweltering hot afternoon.

“It felt really good to get the win and we played with good energy on the field,” Johnson said. “It would definitely mean a lot to have an opportunity to play in a home sectional championship this season.”

She is the daughter of Peter and Eva Johnson of Athens, and she plans to attend UW-Milwaukee in the fall.

Athens junior Siarra Hart earned the pitching win against Prentice by only giving up two hits and no walks, while striking out five batters. Junior Elle Gauerke smacked a grand slam to end the game in three innings. Senior Shauna Belter, Johnson and freshman Sydney Coker each doubled for the Bluejays.

The Athens Bluejays downed Flambeau, 16-1 in three innings, during a non-conference home game on Thursday to help prepare for this week’s regional championship against Drummond. Hart gained the pitching win again, and she also batted two for three with three RBIs and a run scored. Athens has a 15-8 record this season.

Red Raiders advance

Marathon’s softball team upset Mondovi, 6-1, in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal on Monday in Mondovi.

Senior Andrea Seymour pitched the conplete-game win, by striking out 14 batters and only giving up three hits and two walks. Seymour also hit two for four with a double and an RBI.

Senior Lyndsay Pintor had a hit, an RBI and she scored three times in the victory against the Buffaloes.

Marathon now has a 10-15 record this season. Marathon plays in a road regional championship game today (Wednesday) against Cochrane-Fountain City, which has a 20-4 record.

The Red Raiders beat the Wausau West Warriors, 5-1, at home on June 8, to prepare for the playoffs.

Seymour pitched the complete-game win with eight strikeouts. Jada Prihoda doubled and tripled, and she scored twice. Pintor collected a pair of RBIs in the victory.