Panthers pack punch, knock out Warhawks
Home runs power offense
MADISON – This was another one of those days when Taylor Danielson showed the kind of difference she can make.
The Wilmot senior catcher suffered a season-ending knee injury three games into her junior year. Without her, the young Panthers showed enough promise to be considered one of the area’s top teams to start the year. With her back behind the plate and in the lineup this season, she has been part of a pretty scary attack.
Thursday she set the tone for the team’s 4-0 victory Germantown at Goodman Diamond in the Division 1 state quarterfinals by smashing a tworun shot over the left field fence in the first inning. It was her sixth home run of the season, which tied her for the second-best total on the team.
“I go up there just thinking see ball, hit ball and wait for my pitch,” said Danielson, who went 1 for 3. “A lot of my home runs come off two strikes and I just see my chance and I go for it.”
Wilmot (21-4) won its 15th straight game. It will face Oak Creek (29-1) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Panthers also got a home run from junior Hayli Richards. It was the team’s 13th home run in three games and 32nd for the season, the best of any state tournament team.
“It is really a simple approach,” Wilmot coach Jenny Jacobson said. “They are seeing the ball so well and they’ve worked so hard keeping themselves composed. They’re hands and their movements are so quick and strong right now.”
Wilmot scored twice in the first and second innings.
Junior third baseman Montana Platts’ single set the stage for Danielson’s home run. In the second, Richards connected with two outs to make it a 3-0 game. Two batters later, Platt hit a fly ball that was misjudged and dropped in for a double that brought home the game’s fourth run.
That was more than enough for Wilmot senior Sarah Hutchinson. She spread allowed three hits and struck out nine against a Warhawks squad that had scored 10 runs or more in its last three games.
“You’ve got to hit. Bottom line. You’re not winning anything with a zero on the board,” Germantown coach Kurt Raguse said. “We had some girls who stayed pretty aggressive, but we had four or five go down looking with two strikes. That’s not acceptable. In a game like this, you’ve got to attack.”
Despite the rough start, Germantown pitcher Carly Szada held up well against the Panthers’ high-powered lineup. The senior escaped from jams unscathed in the third and fifth innings. In the six and seventh, she sent down Wilmot 1-2-3.
The Warhawks had chances. In the bottom of the first, Szada opened the game with a shot to right center for a double. On second thought, Raguse regretted not allowing her to try to stretch the hit into a triple, a move that could have resulted in a run for Germantown.
In the six, Germantown loaded the bases with one out and clean-up hitter Kailee Garstecki at the plate. The senior lined a shot to left field, but Wilmot’s sophomore Madi Zerr made the play on the sinking liner and doubled the runner off second.
Just like that a crisis was averted.
“She’s not an outfielder by trade,” Jacobson said of Zerr. “She’s a pitcher and first baseman, but (assistant coach) Ryan (Dahl) and I thought it would be a good idea to put her in the outfield and she has obviously brought it. She catches some really tough balls and she keep her composure as well.”
Germantown went down 1-2-3 in the seventh and finished at 17-10.
Wilmot, meanwhile, will play in the semifinals for the first time since it went to the championship game in 2011.
“It’s really exciting. It’s a crazy feeling,” Danielson said about playing at state. “I’m glad I get to experience it:”