Bad inning dooms Demons’ chances
MADISON - One bad inning was all that it took.
Sun Prairie lit up the scoreboard with a six-run third inning, pitcher Maddie Gardner took care of business in the circle and the Cardinals downed Burlington, 7-1, to win the Division 1 state softball championship on Saturday night at the Goodman Softball Complex.
"One inning and that was it," Burlington head coach Gary Caliva said. "We played them pretty tough for six of them, but it got away from us in one of them."
Sun Prairie claimed its first state softball title in school history, with its only previous title appearance coming in 2012 in a 4-3 loss to Chippewa Falls. The Demons were making their secondever state final appearance after winning in 1984.
The Demons (22-6) jumped ahead of the Cardinals (29-0) early, but a mixture of Sun Prairie singles and Burlington errors in the third turned the tides for good.
"I guess that was what we wanted to do at this tournament this year, because all three games we came from behind and won them," Cardinals head coach Jamie Olson said.
Sun Prairie, the lone undefeated team in the state this year, didn't need much help from its opponents to put together rallies. Burlington helped out just enough to effectively put the game away in the third.
"Hat’s off to them," Caliva said. "They’re a really good team."
The Cardinals opened the third with a string of three straight singles, the last of which tied the game off the bat of Katie Tews.
Shortstop Gracie Peterson then committed an error as a run scored to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Erin Vertz singled as the next batter to make it a 3-1 game.
Ashley Schmalfeldt could not corral a grounder off the bat of Gabi Westphal for what could have been the final out with a clean defensive inning. Instead, a run scored to make it 4-1 and a Gardner two run single punctuated the inning's scoring.
"We had opportunities," Caliva said. "We had seven hits and they only had nine hits on us. You take those three errors away and maybe it’s a different game."
The Demons opened the scoring in the top of the first when Jaina Westphal led off the game with a bunt single, stole second and came around to score on Bridi Allen's RBI single.
Save for the third inning hiccup, Burlington pitcher Josie Klein kept Sun Prairie at bay, allowing four hits and a run in the sixth over the other five frames. Klein, who pitched every inning for the Demons this season, finished with a line of seven runs (four earned) on nine hits, two walks and three strikeouts.
Gardner, a sophomore who has verbally comitted to play at Wisconsin, entered the state tournament with a 0.41 ERA. She showed that form on Saturday, scattering seven hits and striking out seven batters while allowing just the lone earned run.
Still, the Demons had their chances against Gardner, finishing with 11 atbats with runners in scoring position but just two hits.
In the end, it was just too much to overcome for Burlington. While the Cardinals were dousing Olson with the Gatorade bucket after the game, in the opposite dugout the Demons were left wondering what could have been.