Colby/Abby goes 1-1 in pair of Cloverbelt slugfests

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby/Abbotsford softball team had a pair of high scoring Cloverbelt-East contests to close out the 2024 regular season. The co-op defeated Neillsville/Granton on the road 24-17 on Thursday before falling just short against Loyal/Greenwood at home on Monday.

After struggling early in the season, partially due to injuries, the offense has seemed to find its stride over the past few weeks. After putting up 23 and 18 runs against Owen-Withee, the co-op scored a combined 48 runs over the final three games.

The Colby/Abby lineup will be looking to continue to keep the bats hot in their first round playoff matchup. After earning a ninth-seed, the co-op will travel to take on eighth-seeded Waupaca on Thursday, May 16. The Comets are 8-14 this season and hold a 4-12 record in the North Eastern conference. They have been on a small streak of their own at the end of the season, having gone 2-1 in their last three games.

Loyal/Greenwood, 17-16

The co-op went toe-to-toe with Loyal/ Greenwood in their final Cloverbelt-East contest of the season and very nearly pulled out their second win in a row. Colby/ Abby rallied from an eight-run deficit in the third inning but the visiting Loyal/ Greenwood managed to outlast them, dealing the home team a 17-16 defeat.

While Colby/Abby would outhit their opponents 16 to 12 over the course of the contest, early walks and errors would hurt them. A seven-run first inning for Loyal/ Greenwood in which they only had two hits put Colby/Abby at a disadvantage, but they would not be easily deterred.

An RBI double from Harrison Schmitt got the home co-op on the board in the bottom half of the first and Audrey Fleischmann, Josie Higley, and Tatum Bargender all drove in runs on singles in the second.

The visitors responded in the top of the third, pushing across five base runners and taking a 12-4 lead. Once again, Colby/Abby’s lineup came through, this time putting together a six-run effort in the bottom half of the frame. The first six batters of the inning reached base safely and Bargender came through with her second clutch hit of the game, plating two on a single. Neveah Treankler followed with a two RBI single of her own and Lucia Perez was able to turn a walk into a run after stealing a base and scoring on an error.

Perez’s run brought the co-op within two and after trading scores in the fourth, Loyal/Greenwood seemed to have finally garnered some breathing room after scoring a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, giving them a 17-12 lead heading into the final inning.

Colby/Abby was not about to go silently into the night, however. With two outs and no one on base, McKinley Klabon kept the co-op’s hopes alive with a single to left. Fleischmann hit a single of her own and then Bargender knocked in both on a third straight hit for Colby/Abby. After Treankler was hit by a pitch, Higley was able to knock in both runners on the coop’s fourth single of the inning, bringing her team back within a run. Loyal/Greenwood’s offense was able to buckle down on the next at-bat, getting a ground ball out and leaving Higley stranded at second.

Bargender finished the game with five RBIs and four runs scored on three hits. She also pitched the entire game for Colby/ Abby, giving up 17 runs, 10 of which were earned, on 12 hits and eight walks while striking out five batters.

Higley and Fleischmann both had three hits each, with the former driving in three runs and the later scoring twice. Elizabeth Perez was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Treankler finished 1-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

Neillsville/Granton, 24-17

Torrance Bloome collected four hits, Josie Higley and Elizabeth Perez added three more each and the Colby/Abby bats came alive in a road victory over Neillsville/ Granton last Thursday. Embattled in a slugfest, the visiting co-op came out on top, using a 12-run seventh inning to top their Cloverbelt-East foe 24-17.

See STRONG FINISH/ Page 16

SOLID HIT - Torrance Bloome gets a base hit in Colby/Abby’s close loss against Loyal/Greenwood on Monday. She had four hits during the co-op’s victory over Neillsville/Granton.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Strong finish

Continued from page 15

Colby/Abby collected 20 hits in one of their best offensive performances this year en route to their third win of the season. Every member of the co-op’s lineup finished with a hit, a run scored and an RBI and seven of the nine batters recorded a multi-hit game.

Much like in their first game against Neillsville/Granton, a 12-7 loss, Colby/Abby jumped out to an early lead, though this one was far more significant than the lead had been in the two team’s initial meeting. The visitors started things off with an RBI single from Harrison Schmitt and got another run home on a single by McKinley Klabon later in the evening. However, patience served Colby/ Abby well early on, as five walks would be a significant driving force behind the six-run top of the first.

While the home team would answer with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, Colby/Abby’s offense continued to roll in the second, putting up five more runs. Higley’s single and stolen base to start the inning paid off as Schmitt came through with a double on the next at-bat to drive her home. After Lucia Perez’s walk, Bloome smacked another double to the outfield to plate Schmitt. A hit from Neveah Treankler scored Klabon who had reached via walk and defensive mishaps from Neillsville/Granton led to an 11-2 lead for Colby/ Abby after one-and-a-half innings of play.

Just as in the first contest between the two squads, Neillsville/Granton would mount a comeback. Single runs in the second and the third were followed by a fourrun fourth and three more in the sixth had the score at 12-11 heading into the final inning.

With the game now on the line, Colby/Abby was near unstoppable in the seventh. The visitors nearly batted around twice, beginning with three consecutive hits from Kylie Orth, Treankler and Higley. All three would eventually come around to score as things continued to roll as the bottom of the order came around. Bloome and Elizabeth Perez put themselves on base with back-to-back singles and Klabon loaded the bases with a walk. Audrey Fleischmann blew the game open with a bases-clearing double, driving in three more to make the score 19-11.

Orth rocketed another double to the outfield on her second trip to the plate in the seventh to score Fleischmann and eventually came home herself on a single by Lucia Perez. Singles courtesy of Bloome and Elizabeth Perez pushed across three more runs and by the time Neillsville/ Granton finally recorded the final out, Colby/Abby had collected 10 hits and 12 runs in the single inning. The home team mounted a six-run rally in the bottom half of the frame, but it was not nearly enough to overcome Colby/ Abby’s impressive performance in the top half of the inning.

Treankler pitched all seven innings for Colby/Abby, allowing 10 hits and four walks while striking out three. Only 11 of her 17 runs were earned.

Bloome ended the game by going 4-for-5 from the plate, scoring three runs while batting in three and drawing a walk. Higley scored four runs while going 3-for-4 and drawing two walks, recording 2 RBIs and stealing a pair of bases. Elizabeth Perez also had three hits and Orth, Fleischmann and Perez all had three RBIs. Schmitt scored four runs and stole two bases.

RIGHT ON TARGET - Shortstop Elizabeth Perez delivers a strike to first base for an out during the co-op’s final conference game of the season at home on Monday afternoon.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD