Oak Creek rallies for quarterfinal victory
MADISON – This Oak Creek Knights softball team just refuses to go away.
Last week the Southeast Conference champion found itself down a run in the 14th inning of the softball sectional final against league rival Kenosha Indian Trail before coming back to win.
Thursday the Knights didn't need extra innings to score another clutch victory. Down a run with four outs potentially left in its season, the tournament's No. 3 seed scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to post a 4-2 victory over No. 6 Sussex Hamilton in a WIAA Division 1 quarterfinal at Goodman Diamond.
The victory raised Oak Creek's record to 22-3 and was the program's first at state since its 2017 appearance. Up next will be Sun Prairie in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday. Sun Prairie, the state runner-up last season, defeated Milton, 5-0, in the first quarterfinal of the day.
“We just lived through a game less than a week ago where there were so many ups and so many downs that (we know) anything could happen in any inning,” Oak Creek coach Jeff Trask said. “I think we realized that. We pulled them together and the right kids were up at the right time.”
Juniors Madisen Noll and Brianna Rickert and senior Olivia Joosten, who hit fourth, fifth and sixth in the lineup, drove in runs in the deciding inning.
Junior pitcher Riley Grudzielanek shut the door from there, though it didn't come without some drama. Hamilton put runners on first and third with one out before the right-hander struck out swinging the final two batters of the game.
The moment was such a rush that Grudzielanek that literally jumped for joy before appearing to faint. She lay in the infield for a few minutes before being helped off the field.
Trask said she was fine.
“I think it heat exhaustion a little bit, probably not fully recovered from the 15-inning job we had in Kenosha the other night,” Trask said.
“I just think the emotions and energy and hype to this game (was a lot). She put it out there for us. She's a competitor.”
Grudzielanek struck out 14 in recording her 19th victory. She worked hard for the win, needing to shake off a shaky third inning when Hamilton scored twice. One of those runs came on a smash by junior outfielder Kiley Slaats. The second came in on bunt by senior Nicole Ghelfi that wasn't covered properly by the Knights. The play was ruled a single.
Grudzielanek then hit clean-up hitter Anna Frafjord before bouncing back to end the inning with a strikeout.
Grudzielanek didn't allow a hit the rest of the game.
“With Riley it was a matter of what was most important,” Trask said. “We can't dwell on what we just did. It was a next play mentality. Move on breathe. Focus on the next kid.
The loss marked the second straight season Hamilton's suffered a 4-2 loss at the state tournament. Last year Chippewa Falls did the honor and coincidently it used a three-run inning — this one was the fifth — to advance.
Oak Creek's win gives the Knights a chance at redemption. The Knights suffered a 3-1 loss to Sun Prairie at a tournament it hosted on May 7. Oak Creek hasn't reached the state final since it was runner-up in 2005.
The Knights will take the field respectful of the Cardinals but confident as well.
“They're a really good team,” Noll said, “but if we do what we know we can do, we can pull it off in the end.”