Colby/Abby softball falls to Athens, Neillsville

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby/Abby softball team faced off against Athens and Neillsville over the past week, falling to both squads as they near the end of the regular season.

Neillsville, 7-1

While the co-op was able to hold their Cloverbelt-East opponents in check for a while, five runs in the fourth and fifth turned the tide in the visiting Neillsville squad. Inclement weather ended the contest early and the co-op fell 7-1.

Three hits, four walks and a couple errors by the Neillsville defense gave Colby/Abby a number of opportunities with runners on the basepaths, but could not quite bring them around to score with the same efficiency as their opponents. The co-op left six base runners stranded over the course of the five inning contest while the visitors only left three.

After playing well through the first three innings, unforced errors by the Colby/Abby defense kept the Warriors lineup rolling in the later frames. Five total miscues by the co-op defense led to five unearned runs coming across the plate for Neillsville, a difference maker in an otherwise closely contested game.

The Warriors struck first, notching a pair of unearned runs against starter Tatum Bargender in the opening inning, but the co-op was able to get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the first. Audrey Fleischmann was able to make the most of some defensive mistakes, ending up on third base on a single before coming in to score on a wild pitch during the next at-bat.

That would be all the runs the co-op could muster against Neillsville starter Klarissa Canfield, however. A pair of walks gave the co-op base runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but a runner was caught out on the base paths to end the co-op’s threat.

After silencing the visitors’ bats for two innings, the Warriors were able to get to Bargender again in the fourth, using an error to start the inning to fuel their offensive efforts. They would eventually score three runs, all with two outs, pulling away from the home team. Two more runs in the top of the fifth solidified their hold over the contest.

Colby/Abby was unable to take advantage of leadoff hits in the final two frames. Kierslyn Orth was left stranded after starting the fourth with a double and Nevaeh Treankler never made it home after getting on base with a bunt to open the bottom of the fifth.

Bargender went all five innings for the co-op, dealing two strikeouts while allowing seven runs on five hits and surrendering no walks. Only two runs were earned.

Athens, 6-3

It was a much different game the second time the co-op faced off against Athens this season, but unfortunately for Colby/Abby, the final result remained the same. While the first contest featured 36 combined runs, in the rematch last Tuesday the two teams saw just nine runs cross the plate. In the end, the Bluejays were able to double up the co-op, dealing them a 6-3 defeat.

The co-op had plenty of base runners throughout the afternoon, racking up nine hits and six walks, but were unable to come up with clutch hits when they needed them. The Bluejays were able to do more with a little less, for while they themselves had nine hits, they only drew two walks.

A trio of errors would also come back to hurt Colby/Abby. Of the six runs surrendered by starting pitcher Tatum Bargender over her six innings of work, only three of them were earned. The three unearned runs were the difference maker in a game that otherwise saw the two squads produce very similar results statistically.

Lucia Perez was able to deliver a single for the co-op in the first at-bat of the game and the co-op was able to get on the board when Ella Schreiber was able to draw a basesloaded walk with two outs.

Athens was able to answer with a run of their own in the bottom half of the first and then briefly took the lead with another in the third. Nevaeh Treankler was able to win a seven pitch battle to deliver a two-out single to right field, driving in Perez to knot the game at 2-2 in the fourth.

The co-op ran into trouble in the bottom half of the frame, however. A leadoff single for the Bluejays led to a run after an error by the Colby/Abby defense. Another single gave Athens runners at third and second with two outs and Abby Diethelm delivered for the home team, knocking in both runners with a double to center field.

After the Bluejays picked up another run in the sixth, Colby/Abby needed a rally down 6-2 in the seventh. Bargender got things started with a single and was able to advance to third on a groundout. Schreiber once again delivered for the co-op, smacking the ball through the middle of the infield to cut into the Athens lead, but Colby/ Abby lineup was not able to muster any further offense, their rally falling short.

Bargender pitched the entire game for the co-op, striking out two and walking two while giving up six runs, three earned, on nine hits.

Perez and Treankler both finished 2-for-3 from the plate, the former scoring two of the co-op’s three runs and the latter collecting an RBI. Bargender also had two hits and a run scored. Schreiber was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks and Kierslyn Orth and Elizabeth Perez both had a hit each.

FIRING TO FIRST - Shortstop Nevaeh Treankler gets the out at first after fielding a ground ball against Neillsville.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

ACROSS THE DIAMOND - Kierslyn Orth tries to throw out a Neillsville base stealer. The co-op catcher also had the team’s only extra base hit, a double in the fourth inning. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

HUSTLING OUT OF THE BOX - Audrey Fleischmann makes a break down the line after hitting a single on Thursday.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD