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Wildcats earn first win By Trenten Scheidegger SPORTS REPORTER
The River Ridge-Scales Mound Wildcats earned their first win of the 2022 softball season on Friday, April 1. It was a busy day for the Wildcats and their Head Coach, Kate Bingham, as they faced off with the Argyle Orioles in an afternoon double header. The Wildcats were coming off a tough loss on opening day as they fell 16-4 to the Oregon Hawks. They were hopeful to bounce back against the Orioles. Despite the Wildcats getting off to an early lead, the first game of the double header featured more struggles, much like opening day. In the top of the first Amie Richmond reached base after an error by the Argyle defense. Richmond took advantage of the early opportunity by stealing second base on the next pitch. With a runner in scoring position and no outs, the Wildcats’ early optimism quickly faded as the next two batters struck out without moving the runner over. That was when Evelyn Walters came through with a two out double to center field, allowing Richmond to score the first run of the game. That was the only run RRSM would score all game, however, as the offense struggled to establish any momenSUBMITTED PHOTO Rock Valley Publishing tum for the remainder of the game. The Wildcats had just one hit on the game which was Walter’s double in the Julia Moore of the Lena American Legion Auxiliary presented Noah Lundblade of opening inning. Mickayla Beloit, Wisconsin with an American Legion Auxiliary Hero Award. Noah Lundblade, Bass was in the pitcher’s cirage 4, helped save his father, Matt Lundblade, after his dad had a seizure while driv- cle for RR-SM. The junior
Noah Lundblade receives hero award
ing. Matt Lundblade’s car hit a telephone pole and went down a 20-foot ravine, and that’s when Noah sprang into action. “Noah grabbed his dinosaur and climbed out of the front passenger side door,” Matt said. “He saw a lady walking with her granddaughter, he climbed over power lines that were right next to the vehicle and ran down and got help for us.” First responders got there just in time to save Matt’s life. Matt explained, “The paramedics and the doctors said that if it wasn’t for Noah having such courage and doing what he did, I wouldn’t be here today”.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022
tallied seven strikeouts, while allowing just two hits in just four innings. Walks got the best of her, however, as eight free passes allowed the Orioles to establish a significant lead. Despite allowing six runs, only two of them were earned, as Bass took the loss in the 6-1 defeat. RR-SM managed to put it all together in the second game. Although it appeared the Wildcats were in for another rough game after falling down 4-0 in just the first inning. RR-SM was forced to play comeback from the very start, but they got to work chipping away the big lead early on. In the bottom of the first with two outs, Millie Boden singled to right field and eventually stole second and third base. The Wildcats then took advantage of a dropped third strike as Walters managed to reach base safely and Boden came home to score their first run. Emily Wiederholt was the pitcher for the Wildcats. Despite allowing four runs in the first, Wiederholt was pitching well. None of the four runs allowed were earned as a trio of errors by the RR-SM defense allowed the Orioles to get off to an early lead. It was Wiederholt who kept her team within reach, however, as she shut the Orioles down for the remainder of her outing. The score would remain 4-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Wildcats were running out of time to pull off the comeback. Hoping for some late inning magic, it was senior Josie Korte who got the
rally started by singling on a line drive to right field. An error on the following play and a ground out had a pair of runners in scoring position as Bass came to the plate. In a 1-2 count, Bass clutched up with a ground ball through the left side driving in two runs and bringing RR-SM within one run. Later in the inning the Wildcats found themselves down to their last out as time constraints imposed an early ending. With two outs and a runner on second, Walters came through with her second big hit of the day as she hit a fly ball to center field, driving in Bass to score and tying the game at 4-4. The very next batter was junior Sophie Buck who delivered with a double down the right field line. With Walters busting around third, Buck’s hit was enough to get the walk off win as Walters crossed home plate in the 5-4 victory. Bass led the way offensively, going one for three with a run batted in and one run scored. Richmond was one for three on the game with an RBI, and Walters was one for three with an RBI and one run scored. Buck, who had just one hit in the game, had the biggest hit of all with her walk off double. Wiederholt pitched all five innings, allowing just two hits and four runs, while striking out four batters. Following the first win of the season the Wildcats went on to drop three straight games to West Carroll and
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