The Ellsworth Panthers won three straight this week, defeating the Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 13-2 and winning the doubleheader against the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks 5-2 and 2-1 on Thursday.

It was a great week for Ellsworth softball, winning two conference games and jumping to the top of the Middle Border Conference at 6-0.

The Panthers put on a hitting display against the Cougars, with 13 runs on 17 hits, three walks, and no strikeouts while mercy ruling them. Delaney Johnson drove in five runs on two hits including a homerun, and the team put up a cumulative six doubles.

Madison Peterson pitched a clean game, allowing only two unearned runs and striking out one over 4.2 innings, with Aliza Acker pitching the final third of an inning.

Acker came out two days later and pitched a complete five-inning game allowing just two earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out six. She also went 1-1 at the plate with a home run, two RBI, two walks and two runs scored. Catcher Johnson also had a good game in this one going 2-2 with a double, an RBI and a stolen base.

Peterson got the start in their final tilt of the week, which turned out to be a nail biter. Three straight innings of very little offense opened the game before the Blackhawks put a run on the board with a pinch hit RBI.

Going into the top of the final inning, the score was sitting at 1-0 in favor of the Blackhawks. The Panthers put in Acker for the final inning of work, and she answered the call, walking one and striking out two to send the game into the bottom of the frame.

Johnson continued her big week and came through again for the Panthers, hitting a single and getting things moving in the right direction. Karli Gutting also hit her way on base putting two on with no outs for Peterson who doubled on a hard grounder into center field, scoring Johnson from second.

The Blackhawks intentionally walked Acker, putting two on once again and still with no outs. Aaliyah Huppert came to the plate, fouled one off and took two balls before she got the one she liked and walked it off, punching it through the middle and into center field scoring Gutting and taking the 2-1 victory to remain undefeated.

The Panthers are looking more and more like a force in the Middle Border this year. Last year was the first time since they won the conference championship in 2019 that Ellsworth has finished in the top 3, but they are sending a message to the rest of the Middle Border early this season, with a two-game lead over second place, 4-2 Prescott.

Next up for the Panthers are three straight conference games. First up is a pair of home games on Monday and Tuesday. The Panthers defeated the Osceola Chieftains 15-1 Monday and the Somerset Spartans come to town Tuesday, and from there, they finish their week on the road in Somerset on Thursday. All games this week have a first pitch time of 5 p.m.

River Falls

The River Falls Wildcats went 2-2 this week, first losing a doubleheader to Hudson on Thursday 15-5 and 10-5, and then beating Holmen 6-4 and DeForest 9-5 in a triangular tournament on Saturday in Holmen.

It was a mixed bag for the Wildcats this week as they dropped two straight games to conference rival Hudson but won the triangular on Saturday.

The walks and fielding mistakes are what really killed them in the first game, with nine free bases allowed and four errors. River Falls took the lead in the first game against Hudson, 3-0 in the bottom of the first, but from there on, it was almost all Raiders as they put up four in the second, seven in the third and scored at least one run an inning after the fourth, losing 15-5.

Morgan Kivel had a nice game in this one, going 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Jordan Schwantz also had a good game, hitting the Wildcats’ only other extra base hit, going 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Finally, Lily Burke filled out the box score as well, going 1-3 with a triple, a run, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base.

River Falls completely cleaned up their gameplay in the second half of the doubleheader, with only one error. They also kept pace with Hudson at the dish, with 10 hits to the Raiders’ 12. Unfortunately, River Falls couldn’t get those to come with more runners in scoring position, and they fell 10-5.

Burke continued her strong play, going 2-4 with a walk in the leadoff position in game two, and Jorgia Bengtson also had a multi-hit game, going 2-3 with a run and a walk. Dani Poellinger did the most damage though, with her two RBI double in the fifth inning that scored Kivel and Bengtson in one swing.

The Wildcats have a very busy week on tap, with five games in six days.

First, they host Somerset on Monday, then it’s off to Menomonie for a conference game on Tuesday before returning home on Thursday for their second game of that series against the Mustangs on Thursday. All those games start at 4:30 p.m. From there, they travel to Wausau East for a 4 p.m. game on Friday and a 10 a.m. game on Saturday.

Prescott

The Prescott Cardinals went 2-1 this week, winning both games of their double header against Altoona on Thursday 6-4 and 7-0 before returning home to play Northwestern on Saturday where they lost 6-3.

While the Cardinals would’ve liked to have won all three games this week, winning both against conference opponent Altoona is the ideal way to finish up their play at any rate.

Prescott took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in game one, but Altoona scored two on Cardinal starting pitcher Ella Stewart in the bottom of the frame to take the advantage. That lasted for another inning, but the red birds scored two in the third and three in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead that would hold until the end.

Stewart pitched a truncated complete game of five innings allowing two earned runs on seven hits and no walks to go along with nine punchouts. Rory Zuelsdorf, Megan Richter and Jeanne Rohl each had multi-hit performances in the heart of the lineup, but Sterud and Leah French were also big contributors.

Prescott took a commanding lead early in game two, scoring five in the second and two in the third enroute to a 7-0 victory.

Stewart nearly tossed a perfect game in this one, allowing just one hit and no walks over five shutout innings and putting up nine strikeouts. Sterud continued her big week, going 2-2 in the leadoff spot with a homerun and three RBI’s on the day. Jeanne Rohl went 2-2 with a double and two runs scored, and Maria Mercord went 1-1 with two runs, two RBI, a walk and a stolen base.

Next up for the Cardinals, they will play four games in six days starting with a home game against Amery on Tuesday. They then travel to Amery on Thursday before taking on Baldwin-Woodville in a split doubleheader over the weekend with the first game coming on Friday and the second on Monday. All of Prescott’s games are at 5 p.m. this week.

Spring Valley

The Spring Valley Cardinals were defeated by the Elk Mound Mounders at home on Thursday by a score of 13-3.

A walk by Maddie Shafer and a single by Pride Beyer opened the second inning for the Cardinals, but a double play ensued leaving them with two outs and one on. Beyer proceeded to steal third to get further into scoring position before Reese Vivoda took an 0-2 into right field for a double, scoring Beyer to take a 1-0 advantage. They would add on two more in the fourth inning, but by then Elk Mound had taken a 4-3 lead.

The Mounders would go on to plate five in the top of the fifth and four more in the top of the seventh to complete the 13-3 route.

The offense was good in this one. On the night, Spring Valley put 12 baserunners aboard with seven hits and five walks to only four strikeouts. Unfortunately, starter Shafer couldn’t silence the Elk Mound bats this time around.

Vivoda led the way in slugging going 2-3 with a double and two RBI. Amariah Klein also had an RBI double, scored a run and stole a base.

On deck for the Cardinals this week are three Dunn-St. Croix Conference games starting with a pair of home games, one against Mondovi on Tuesday and the second on Thursday against Boyceville. They then travel to Elmwood-Plum City on Monday to take on the Wolves. All of Spring Valley’s games begin at 5 p.m. this week.

Elmwood-Plum City

The Elmwood-Plum City Wolves lost to the Boyceville Bulldogs at home on Thursday, with a final score of 21-3.

It was a rough week for the Wolves defensively as they committed 12 errors which led to 17 unearned runs in this loss. Without this, the final tally would’ve been 4-3.

EPC took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and added on a third run in the second, but the wheels came off for the Wolves after that as the Bulldogs plated eight in the third and seven in the fourth.

EPC was very efficient when their opportunities did arise, scoring three runs on just four hits and a walk. Britta Link went 1-3, scoring a run and stealing a base. Addasin Ingli also had a good game, going 1-2 with a double and a run scored.

The challenge for the team going forward is going to be cleaning up some things in the field to help their pitchers out on defense.

Looking ahead, the Wolves will play three games this week. First up is a pair of road games, first at Elk Mound at 5 p.m. Thursday and then against Eau Claire Immanuel on Friday at 4:30 p.m. They wrap up play for the week on Monday when they host the Spring Valley Cardinals at 5 p.m.