Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
West Salem softball team wins Tomah tournament
After losing two games earlier in the week, the West Salem softball team regrouped to win the Tomah Invitational last Friday.
The week began with a forgettable game against Black River Falls on Tuesday, May 6. A pair of singles, one in the third and one in the fourth, were the only hits the team managed against Black River Falls pitcher Jenny Janke.
Meanwhile, their opponent hit the ball hard, scoring eight runs in the second inning, two in the third and five more in the fourth for the final score of 15-0.
On Thursday, May 8, the team traveled to Viroqua for a game that proved to be much more competitive. West Salem scored in the first inning after freshman Megan Koepnick doubled and then took third on a pitch that got by the Viroqua catcher. She then crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice.
The Panthers got another run in the fourth when senior Paige Babiash scored on a fielder’s choice after leading off with a triple. In the bottom of the inning, however, Viroqua came back with two runs of their own to tie the game. Three more runs by Viroqua in the bottom of the sixth provided the final 5-2 margin of victory as the Panthers’ offense was unable to muster any further runs.
The first game in the Tomah Invitational Saturday looked as if it were going to be another defeat as West Salem took their last at-bat trailing by a 4-2 score. A clutch four-run rally, however, carried them to a 6-4 win. Junior pitcher Jessica Jandt pitched all seven innings for the victory.
The championship game was played against Cochran-Fountain City. With Jandt on the mound again, the Panthers combined good defense with some timely hitting for a 5-1 victory. Junior Kirstie Langrehr led the hitters, going 2-for-3 with a double.
On Monday, May 12, the Lady Panthers played at home against Onalaska Luther. They lost that game 11-1 with most of the damage being done in a six-run third inning that saw the Panthers give up five walks and two errors. Leading hitter for West Salem was Koepnick who was 2-for-3.
West Salem’s overall record is 4-12. They are 1-10 in conference play.
All stories copyright 2006 Coulee News and other attributed sources.