This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield pitcher Katelyn Sternweis kept Wausau West off the scoreboard for the first six innings and the Tigers were able to scratch out runs in five of their six at-bats as they earned an 8-2 victory in the Wisconsin Valley Conference softball opener for both teams on Monday at Madison Field.
Sternweis struck out eight and did not walk a batter as she earned the win in a complete-game effort. West had two singles in the first inning and Sternweis allowed just one baserunner over the next five, before the Warriors were able to put four hits together in the seventh to eke out two runs.
Leadoff hitter Ashlyn Barwick was hit by a pitch and later scored on a throwing error to give Marshfield a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Lili Anaya had a two-run single in the second inning, Madison Kraus delivered a sacrifice fly to score a run in the third, Barwick added an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the fourth, and Lydia Garvin had a two-run double in a three-run sixth inning to provide Marshfield with all the offense it needed.
“This is really our first time being outside on a field to play,” Marshfield coach Becky Linzmeier said. The Tigers had played their first three games at a tournament inside the Hodag Dome in Rhinelander. “It was good to see the girls play hard and execute. Katelyn pitched well and every inning we had runners on bases, and that’s what I’d like to see.”
West scored twice in the seventh on an RBI triple by Taylor Liebelt and a run-scoring single by Caitlin Krantz before Sternweis got out the inning with no further damage to push Marshfield’s season record to 4-0.
With a nearly entire new lineup, and a new full-time pitcher on the mound in Sternweis, Linzmeier said she is pleased with the way the team has gelled thus far early in the season.
“We’re very inexperienced at a lot of positions, but they have played a lot of ball in travel leagues during the summer,” Linzmeier said. “Giving them the at-bats in the games and building their confidence, that belief that they can do it, is really what we’re trying to do. They’re young, but I think we might surprise some people. Top to bottom in our order, we’re pretty solid.”
West will play at D.C. Everest on Tuesday before hosting Stevens Point for its home opener on Thursday. Marshfield’s next game is Thursday at Wisconsin Rapids.
Tigers 8, Warriors 2
Wausau West 000 000 2 – 2 6 1
Marshfield 121 103 x – 8 11 1
WP: Katelyn Sternweis. LP: Rachel Harder.
SO: Harder (3 inn.) 1, Ella Wendling (3 inn.) 1; Sternweis 8. BB: Harder 1, Wendling 3; Sternweis 0.
Top hitters: WW, Claire Calmes 2B, run; Taylor Liebelt 3B, run, RBI; Caitlin Krantz RBI. M, Ashlyn Barwick 1×4, 2 runs; Lydia Garvin 2×3, 2B, 2 RBI, run; Lili Anaya 2×3, 2B, 2 RBI.
Records: Wausau West 2-4, 0-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Marshfield 4-0, 1-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.