Augusta wins Large Dairyland title
Milestones, milestones, milestones.
Two Tri-County Area prep softball pitchers keep making them, bookending the week from May 5-12.
Eleva-Strum senior Ruby Bartholomew went past the 800 mark in strikeouts during the Cardinals' 6-5 win over Alma/Pepin last week Tuesday at home.
And Augusta sophomore Laney O'Brien made it past the 300 strikeout mark in the Beavers 8-0 shutout win at Osseo-Fairchild on Tuesday, May 12.
An as O'Brien set a new milestone, her Augusta squad clinched the program's first title in the sport since 1992 with their win over the Thunder. This win plus a 16-1 rout of Lincoln on Monday, May 4, made the Beavers (16-4 overall) the champions of the Large Dairyland.
Augusta found success in league play because they didn't find it against the tough line-up of opponents they faced last week.
The Beavers were shutout by No. 7 ranked Chippewa Falls McDonell 6-0 at home on Thursday, May 7. Then they lost to No. 2 Medford 9-1 and No. 1 Grantsburg 2-1 at the Gilman Invitational. AHS dropped to No. 7 in the state coaches rankings.
Next Tuesday, AHS will get another crack at a top-ranked opponent as they host No. 5 Stanley-Boyd at home at 5 p.m.
Elsewhere in Large Dairyland, Eleva-Strum (8-6 overall) pushed a winning streak out to four games, beating not only A/P last week but also Whitehall 10-0 on Friday, May 8 and recorded another shutout, 2-0 over Ellsworth on Monday, May 11. But that winning streak was snapped by independence/Gilmanton in a 4-2 loss on Tuesday, May 12. Osseo-Fairchild (8-9 overall) struggled to stay at .500 as the Thunder not only lost to Augusta this week but also to Melrose-Mindoro on Friday, May 8 by a 6-1 score . Their lone win last week was over Gilman 17-7 on Thursday, May 7 at Gilman. Addison Dunahay had two hits and scored twice to lead the Thunder.
Fall Creek hopes to at least reach .500 in the Western Cloverbelt Conference with their final league game this week vs. Eau Claire Regis on Thursday, May 14. The Crickets (8-13 overall) won't reach that level in the regular season with losses last week to Bloomer 11-0 on Thursday, May 7, to No. 7 ranked Prescott at home Saturday, May 9 by a 13-0 score and a doubleheader sweep by No. 5 Stanley-Boyd 11-1 and 3-1 at home on Tuesday, May 12. FC did beat Eau Claire Memorial in EC 11-3 on Friday, May 8 and swept Cadott in a doubleheader 16-0 and 11-1 at Cadott on Tuesday, May 5.
