GILMAN SOFTBALL - Scoring chances get away, Pirates eliminated by the Panthers 6-5

A three-run rally in the fifth inning pulled the Gilman Pirates into a 5-5 tie, but sixth-seeded Prairie Farm got one in the top of the sixth and that wound up being the difference in the Panthers’ 6-5 upset win Tuesday in a WIAA Division 5 softball regional semifinal.

Makayla Shelton broke the tie with a two-out RBI double in the sixth, driving in Rylee Hillstead, who had singled with one out. The Pirates had opportunities throughout but, for the most part lacked the big hit and had a couple of mistakes on the base paths that short-circuited potential threats as they finished the season at 12-10 overall.

“We ran ourselves out of some scoring situations,” Gilman head coach Brian Phelps said. “We just had some mental mistakes that we don’t normally make. Base running is normally one of our strong suits. We did things we don’t normally do.”

One of those mistakes was the third out of the first inning, ending a potential rally that had included two walks and an Abby Chaplinski single. The Pirates were caught stealing once in the second but still managed to score a run after four consecutive walks were issued by Panther pitcher Sophie Bergmann. Averie Olynick had the RBI but Gilman wound up leaving the bases loaded.

Prairie Farm took the lead with a threerun third. Briana Klefstad drove in one with a two-out single and Madalyn Larson and Adline Jacobson hit back-to-back RBI doubles.

Reece Weir singled in a run for Gilman in the bottom half. That was answered by Kylie Kahl’s RBI single in the top of the fourth and Bergmann singled in a run for the Panthers in the fifth.

Down 5-2, Gilman finally put up a crooked number in the bottom of the fifth. Allison Olynick singled, Soper was hit by a pitch and Weir singled up the middle to load the bases with no outs. Norah Noonan’s sacrifice fly scored Olynick. Kayleigh James then lined a shot to rightcenter to score Soper and Weir with the tying runs.

Gilman had the tying run on in the sixth, but Prairie Farm got an out by pickoff. Bergmann retired the bottom of Gilman’s lineup in order in the seventh and the Panthers (8-8) clinched their spot in the regional final today, Thursday, at second-seeded Rib Lake.

Scarlett Stuner gave up 11 hits, but struck out five and walked only one while allowing five earned runs. Kenlyn Kroeplin was two for three with a double, Allison Olynick was two for four as was Weir.

“This is a resilient bunch of young ladies,” Phelps said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how they battled some of the circumstances we dealt with this year. We ended with a winning record, which is good. That’s always a goal. We let a couple slip away, we got a couple maybe we weren’t sure we were going to get.”

Gilman says goodbye to six seniors. Chaplinski, Kroeplin and James have been part of the core for four years and Paige Daley has been around throughout that time too. Alison Krizan and Lila Altamirano put in multiple years with the program as well.

“Those six were great team leaders,” Phelps said. “I’m proud of them and I’m proud of our team in general.”

Gilman 13, Phillips 6

Gilman closed the regular season Thursday with a quality win, 13-6, at Marawood North runner-up Phillips.

Down 5-2 through three innings, the Pirates turned the game around with a five-run rally in the top of the fifth inning and then put it away with a five-run seventh-inning rally, which was all done with two outs.

Stuner had one rocky inning, the third, but allowed just one run in the other six frames. Only two runs were earned. She struck out three, walked three and allowed nine hits.

Gilman led 2-0 when the Loggers got their five in the third, four of which came after a two-out error. Paula Pomeroy had the key hit, a two-run double.

Chaplinski tripled and scored on Soper’s groundout in the third.

In the fifth, Averie Olynick’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Kroeplin tied the game. But the Pirates didn’t stop there. Chaplinski, after also doubling in the first inning, was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners with two outs. Allison Olynick hit a drive that was misplayed in leftfield to bring in the tying run. Soper’s ensuing triple scored two more to make it 8-5.

Up 8-6, Gilman’s last rally against Logger reliever Trinity Smith started with a two-out walk to Allison Olynick. Soper walked and everyone was safe on a fielder’s choice grounder hit by Weir to load the bases. Stuner walked to force in a run, Noonan was hit by a pitch to score one, James reached on an error to knock in one, a run scored on a wild pitch and Kroeplin drew a bases-loaded walk before Phillips’ starting pitcher, Annaka Tobias, got the last out.

Chaplinski finished two for four. Soper was one for three with three runs batted in. Averie Olynick and Noonan had one hit apiece.