Prairie du Chien Softball wins playoff opener, fall in D3 Regional Final to Adams-Friendship 4-3
Emma Abram beats the throw to first base by a step. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Bailey Halvorson takes a lead off of second base. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Reagan Hannah makes the throw from shortstop over the head of teammate Ella Lange. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Claire Kennedy gets ready to connect with a pitch against Westby. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Rita Achenbach returns to second base after a foul ball. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Laney Mitchell hustles out of the batters box to beat the throw to first base for a hit. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
The Prairie du Chien Blackhawks softball team opened the 2024 postseason as the number one seed in their sectional grouping which meant a bye in the regional quarterfinal round.
Thanks to a nine inning win over Richland Center in the first round, Westby advanced to Wednesday’s D3 regional semifinal contest against the Blackhawks in Prairie du Chien.
A four-run first inning by the Hawks got the hosts started quickly before Westby answered with one run of their own in the second. Prairie answered right back with three more runs in their half of the second to make the score 7-1. The Hawks would add additional runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings before the Lady Norsemen added two late runs in the seventh inning for the final 10-3 score.
The Blackhawks outhit the visitors 13-5 in the game, including multiple hits by Irelynd Cejka (3-for-5 with a double, one run scored and one RBI), Claire Kennedy (3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs), Rita Achenbach (2-for-4 with a double, one run scored and one RBI) and Laney Mitchell (2-for-4 with two RBIs). The Hawks offense also had big games from Scout Hall (1-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and one walk), Emma Abram (1-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks) and Camryn Knapp (0-for-0 with four walks).
Hall got the win on the mound thanks to allowing just three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out 12 batters.
The victory moved the Hawks into Thursday’s regional final game for a third consecutive season which is the longest streak in program history.
The Adams-Friendship Green Devils came to Prairie following a wild 7-5 win over Dodgeville the previous night. The two teams faced each other early last month at the Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston with the Hawks earning a 11-3 win in that game.
Like in that first meeting, the Green Devils got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the first to take a quick 1-0 lead. Unlike the previous game however, the Hawks were unable to respond with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning as A-F added another run in the third inning to make score 2-0 in their favor.
The Hawks tied the game up at 2-2 with two runs in the third inning but never got things fully going on offensive. The Hawks never took a lead at any point during the game despite having multiple runners on base with less than two outs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Prairie du Chien managed to push a run across in the sixth inning to make the score 4-3 but could not muster any more runs the rest of the game.
The Hawks offense was lead by Hall (2-for-4 with two RBIs), Kennedy (2-for-4), Mitchell (2-for-2 with one walk), Cejka (1-for-4 with one RBI and Reagan Hannah (1-for-3 with a double and one walk).
Hall took the loss on the mound despite strong overall pitching (four runs allowed (three earned) on eight hits and two walks with nine strikeouts).
The Hawks end the season with a 15-5 overall record and will graduate four seniors in Emma Abram, Scout Hall, Reagan Hannah and Emilee Snyder.
This senior group leaves a very decorated chapter in program history as the Hawks went 59-31 overall and 28-12 in the SWC during their four seasons. They also appeared in three straight regional championship games, made two consecutive sectional appearances for the first time in program history, and won the program’s first conference championship since 1989.
