Softball

After securing a split with a 15-5 win and 3-2 loss against a strong Altoona team, the Cardinals closed the week with a five-run rally capped by a Grace Ptacek walk-off hit to win 6-5 over Bloomer. Prescott is now 8-6 in conference. Right on their heels at 7-7 is Ellsworth, a team that has found its stride at the right time, most recently beating Saint Croix Central 4-3 and 13-11. Freshman Emmie Pechacek homered in the 13-11 win.

Spring Valley fell to 7-7 in conference with a 13-3 win over Elmwood/Plum City, a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to Glenwood City and a 6-4 loss to Durand-Arkansaw. The Cardinals have taken massive strides from a three-win season overall a year ago and are looking to showcase those abilities in the postseason. As for the Wolves, they are 4-10 in conference. Following up the loss to Spring Valley, they lost 13-2 to Colfax and 13-12 in a heartbreaker of their own against Mondovi.

River Falls had an 0-3 week, losing 12-2 and 10-3 to Chippewa Falls and 7-5 against Altoona. The Wildcats are still holding strong in Big Rivers Conference play at 6-6.

Baseball

There were some crucial matchups on the baseball field this week, starting with Prescott versus Altoona. The Cardinals entered the pair of games down by one game in the conference standings, and a split with a 3-2 loss and 10-3 win kept them there. Prescott is 9-3 in conference with games against Baldwin-Woodville to close out the season. The Cardinals also split with a strong Wisconsin Dells team over the weekend.

River Falls had a pair of games of its own against conference leader Hudson, a team that entered the two games a perfect 8-0 in league play. The Wildcats won the series opener 2-0 on a brilliant complete game on the mound from Ethan Jeffers, losing 10-4 to the Raiders days later. To close out the week, River Falls won 8-2 over Middle Border Conference leading Altoona 8-2. River Falls is now third in the Big Rivers Conference with a 6-3 record.

Ellsworth has won four of five games, most recently sweeping Saint Croix Central 6-4 and 6-1. Jack Stoltenberg pitched seven innings of one-run ball in the 6-1 win to help Ellsworth improve to 4-8 in conference.
After beating Spring Valley 6-5 in a rivalry game to sweep the season series, EPC beat Colfax 11-7 and lost to Mondovi 8-5. EPC is 4-8 in conference and will have a busy week to close out the regular season due to previous weather postponements. Spring Valley had an 0-3 week in conference, losing 6-5 to EPC, 8-1 to Glenwood City and 6-2 to Durand-Arkansaw. The Cardinals are 5-11 in conference play as the final week of games arrives.

Track and Field

EPC and Spring Valley showed out at the Boyceville Invitational last week. The EPC girls took second and the Spring Valley boys took third to highlight the event. EPC’s Brewer Link won the 400-meter run and the high jump; Andrea Arredondo, Allie Sauve, Lillian Pullen and Leslie Widman won the 4x100 relay and Sauve won the triple jump. Spring Valley’s Katie Matthys came away with a 100-meter hurdles crown. The two teams will compete May 19 in Colfax for the Dunn-St. Croix Conference Championships.

The Prescott boys won the final meet before the May 19 conference event in Somerset, highlighted by wins in the 100 and 200 from Wyatt Budworth, another discus win from Makaria Haas and a shot put win from Eyan Miller. Ellsworth competed in a separate event, with Adolfo Mendez winning the 800 to headline the Panthers.

River Falls won the boys team title in Hudson. The winners were Charlie Burke in the 100, Olive Halvorson in the 800, Jackson Magee in the 300 hurdles, Bailee Bishop in the 300 hurdles, Oliver Simmons, Cade Christiansen, Peter Oestreich and Jeremiah Bode in the 4x100, Isabelle Russell, Jayla Johnson, Willa Barry and Mackenzie Schmidt in the 4x200, Abigail Treichel and Jacob Hutchins in the girls and boys high jumps, Blake Schneider and Kayla Hoeft in the boys and girls pole vaults and Noah Metro in the triple jump.

Boys Golf

River Falls took second in its home conference meet with a 157 behind only Hudson’s 148. Senior Jaxon Flanagan was exceptional, finishing third with a 36, with sophomore Broden Flanagan not far behind in a tie for seventh with a 39.

Ellsworth took fifth and Prescott eighth in a conference meet at Osceola, and the two finished in the same positions in Amery over a pair of conference competitions.

SV/EPC took sixth of seven in a Dunn-St. Croix conference meet in Glenwood City, led by sophomore Ruger Peavey’s tie for sixth place with a 44 score.

Girls Soccer

After a stinger of a first conference loss 5-0 at home against Hudson, River Falls soared back to win 4-0 over Menomonie and 4-2 over Madison Memorial. The Wildcats are entering the final two weeks of the regular season still fighting for the top spot in the Big Rivers Conference.

Boys Tennis

Ellsworth had a competitive five-match week of tennis, beating Lakeland Union 4-2 and Rhinelander 5-2, losing 7-0 to Altoona, 4-3 to Wausau West and 6-1 to River Falls. In addition to the win over Ellsworth, River Falls won 7-0 over Rhinelander, 6-1 over Lakeland Union and 6-1 over Wausau West, losing 6-1 to Eau Claire Memorial.