Tigers softball earns first state trip
Stratford downs Blair-Taylor in sectional final
By Casey Krautkramer
Stratford’s softball team created school history on Thursday by earning its first ever state tournament trip. Number two seed Stratford traveled to number one seed Blair-Taylor and beat the Wildcats, 4-1, to capture the WIAA Division 4 sectional championship.
The Tigers are 18-9 this season and they received a number two seed in the Division 4 state tournament held at Goodman Diamond on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison.
Stratford plays against number three seed Waterloo, 15-5, at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday, June 8, at the state tournament.
Number one seed Grantsburg, 26-3, plays in the 4:30 p.m. Division 4 state tournament semifinal this Thursday against number four seed Iola-Scandinavia, 21-9. The winners of Thursday’s state tournament semifinals will play in the state championship at 10:30 a.m. this Saturday, June 10.
Stratford’s softball team had its mascot, Jake the unicorn piñata, hung on the dugout fence during Thursday’s WIAA Division 4 sectional championship against Blair-Taylor. The Tigers and Wildcats were scoreless up until the fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, Stratford sophomore catcher Emma Roeper and senior leftfielder Tessa Berg both singled to start things off. Freshman first baseman Tria Tubbs’ groundout moved the runners over to second and third bases. Junior second baseman Kressa Wenzel struck out but then senior third baseman Sonia Peterson walked to load the bases with two outs. Senior rightfielder Lexi Christopherson’s double unloaded the bases for Stratford to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Christopherson explained her approach at the plate during this crucial at-bat.
“I saw that we had two outs so it was a do or die situation,” she said. “We had runners on base and I was just thinking about my team and how bad it needed me to drive in some runs. I just gave it a good crack and and then I got all the runners home. It was just amazing and it felt so good.”
Stratford starting pitcher Laney Pankratz followed Christopherson’s at-bat with an RBI single to give the Tigers a 4-0 advantage. Freshman shortstop Gracie Schmidt struck out to end Stratford’s top half of the inning.
Blair-Taylor got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning when a Wildcats player obtained an RBI when her deep fly ball hit off Berg’s glove in left field. That was the only run Blair-Taylor could muster against pitcher Laney Pankratz who despite her small stature is dominating in the pitcher’s circle. She struck out nine batters while only surrendering four hits, two walks and one earned run against Blair-Taylor. Her mother, Mandy Pankratz, is Stratford’s head softball coach. She said her daughter has been pitching since she was six years old and she joked that she is not much bigger now than she was back then.
“I think sometimes people see her out there and think how can someone that tiny be so good at pitching, but her mental side of the game is strong probably because she grew up on a softball diamond and knows nothing different,” Mandy Pankratz said about her daughter. “I’m a proud coach and mom.”
Stratford senior Lauren Kraus brought the team mascot, Jake, out of the dugout to join in the sectional championship win celebration with her teammates. Lexi Christopherson gave her mother, Tammie Christopherson, a huge hug after Stratford’s sectional championship victory. She couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“It’s insane,” Lexi Christopherson said. “It’s surreal. I am still shaking.”
Laney Pankratz shared the same sentiment.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I am so happy. It’s been my dream since I first stepped into the pitcher’s circle to go to state.”
Brittany Bredemann is a Stratford varsity softball assistant coach who played catcher on Mandy Pankratz’s 2016 team that lost, 1-0, to Laconia in the Division 3 sectional championship in Plover. Mandy Pankratz said this season’s sectional championship victory is also a celebration in honor of all the great Stratford teams she’s coached in the past that weren’t able to break through and make it to the state tournament.
“We have had some phenomenal ball clubs and Brittany Bredemann was on one of them,” Mandy Pankratz said. “Her advice to the girls was, ‘You gotta win this one and you can do it.’”
DAUGHTER AND MOTHER EMBRACE- Stratford senior rightfielder Lexi Christopherson hugs her mother, Tammie Christopherson, after her team’s 4-1 win against Blair-Taylor in Thursday’s WIAA Division 4 sectional championship victory in Blair.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
LONG REACH FOR THE GRAB- Stratford freshman first baseman Tria Tubbs snags a ball thrown to her by sophomore starting pitcher Laney Pankratz for an out during Thursday’s win against Blair-Taylor.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
