RIVER FALLS — The Wildcat softball squad had a solid week, splitting with Eau Claire North with an 8-3 win and 6-4 loss and beating Somerset 4-1 to close the week.

“They came in really competitively on Tuesday, and I think they did a nice job executing everything. We fell short a little bit yesterday, but we responded today and brought back our best defense,” Coach Leah Fletcher said.

The week opened with the 8-3 win in which Ava Larsen and Brenna Clifton hit home runs and Larsen and Reagan Scherz doubled. Seven innings pitched of three-run ball out of senior Audra Adermann was enough to seal the deal.

In the rematch, Eau Claire North and River Falls battled back and forth until the top of the sixth inning in which North tallied four runs that the Wildcats could not recover despite six stolen bases as a team.

River Falls closed the week with perhaps the most well-rounded game of the season, beating Somerset 4-1 Friday. Adermann was stellar, going seven innings and allowing three hits, one walk and one run in a game against one of the Middle Border Conference’s more competitive units.

“That is a huge impact. That’s been a deficit for us in the past and seeing her only put one runner on with free bases is really going to help our defense,” Fletcher said of Adermann’s strong afternoon.

Larsen again hit a home run, marking five extra-base hits in five games this year.

“We came from that loss and we knew we could play better. We had a lot of fun today, and we didn’t just get hype in the seventh inning, we got hype in the first inning,” senior Morgan Kivel said.

The game was tied at one in the bottom of the sixth, until Dani Poellinger singled to score two and Hudson Walker whacked a sacrifice fly to secure a 4-1 win.

“We just connected with the ball a lot better than we did yesterday, and we took better approaches to the plate,” Kivel said. “Otherwise, Audra just won us that game basically.”

The defense behind Adermann was also exceptional, with just one error and a list of great plays.

Kivel said the team showed positive signs of small ball ability in the late innings, including Mckenna Cook’s bunting ability providing another option.

“When we can be in a position to put pressure on the other team and make them execute, it gives us a little bit of an upper hand and it puts the momentum in our direction,” Fletcher said.
With matchups against Hudson on April 14 and 16, Fletcher wants to lean on the leadership of seniors Kivel, Larsen and Adermann to take down the rivals.

“I want to see them build on their at-bats. They’re picking the right pitches. They’re on time in the batters box. They’re playing good defense. They’re talking in the field, and it’s going to make all the difference,” Fletcher said.

Baseball

The baseball team took on a pair of Minnesota teams to begin its season in a Border Battle. The Wildcats lost 6-2 against East Ridge, struggling to get the bats hot. River Falls had seven walks but just one hit on the night from right fielder Landon McQuade. He reached base three times with the hit and a pair of walks.

Game two went differently, with River Falls taking down Blaine 11-8. McQuade started the day with three innings pitched, allowing one unearned run. River Falls scored a run in the bottom of the second and six in the bottom of the third to take a 7-1 lead. Blaine would come all the way back with six of its own in the top of the fourth; however, the Wildcats scored one in the fourth and three in the fifth to secure the first win of the year.

The bats were hot, as Cayden Kroll had three hits, one double and an RBI, Ryan DuMond had two hits, one double and three RBIs, Kingston Quinn had two hits, one double, Lucas Fedie had two hits and leadoff hitter Chase Rudolph had a base hit.

River Falls starts conference play with Menomonie on the road April 14 and at home April 16.