When Prescott senior ace pitcher Taylor Graf struck out Ellsworth’s final batter in the bottom of the seventh inning on Thursday, May 11, it put an exclamation point on a 2-1 victory and Graf’s second virtuoso performance in as many games.

Her time in the circle included five K’s, zero earned runs and a season-defining win. Two days earlier, Graf pitched a complete-game shutout that gave Prescott a 4-0 victory at home against the No. 2-ranked Panthers in the series opener.

Prescott would have been eliminated from conference championship contention with a loss in either game. Instead, the Cardinals swept the rival Ellsworth Panthers and kept their bid alive for a second consecutive Middle Border Conference championship.

With the win, Prescott improved to 13-4 overall and 10-2 in conference play, while Ellsworth slipped to 14-2 and 11-2 respectively. Prescott can claim a share of the conference title by sweeping Saint Croix Central in the league finale and Ellsworth could do the same with a victory against Baldwin-Woodville on Monday, May 15.

Taking care of business against one of the top-ranked teams in the state and staying in the hunt for a conference championship was all that Prescott head coach Nick Johnson could have asked for against Ellsworth.

“We played almost flawless defense, great small ball and made enough plays to beat them,” Johnson said after the sweep. “Those were two big wins for our team. You can’t ask for anything better than to be in a position to win a conference championship.”

The Cardinals are on the doorstep of another Middle Border Conference championship in large part because of Graf’s excellence in the circle this season, particularly against Ellsworth. In those two games, Graf threw 14 innings, surrendered zero earned runs, tallied 10 K’s and got two wins.

“We’ve been talking about Taylor for three years,” Johnson said. “Every time she touches the rubber, she gives us an opportunity to win. The best thing about Taylor is that when we make an error, she puts it on her shoulders and picks us up.”

The annual Highway 10 rivalry series featured razor-thin margins. Each game was decided by crucial hits in pivotal moments, and Prescott delivered more often than Ellsworth.

No innings illustrated the chasm in clutch at-bats more than the bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth frames in the first game on Tuesday afternoon. Prescott built a 1-0 lead in the first three innings and then loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with a single and a pair of walks.

That brought junior Ella Stuart to the plate, who extended Prescott’s lead to 4-0 when she cranked a three-run double to the gap in right-center. Her timely production broke open a game that previously appeared destined to be a pitchers’ duel.

However, Ellsworth had a chance to respond in the top of the fifth inning when juniors Morgan Kolodzienski and Molly Janke began the frame with a pair of singles. Graf retired Ellsworth’s next three batters with a pair of flyouts and a routine grounder that ended the inning.

The Panthers squandered another scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth when the first two batters reached base and then had the ensuing three retired. Ellsworth head coach Tom Diercks spoke about how his team’s missed opportunities impacted the series against Prescott.

“We just didn’t get any timely hits and they did,” Diercks said. “We just have to attack a little bit and be more aggressive at the plate. I thought we did OK overall, but it was that one big clutch hit for them. We just didn’t get anything clutch and that was a momentum changer.”

Thursday’s game echoed the dynamic of Tuesday’s contest. Prescott jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when senior Izzy Matzek blasted an RBI single to center field which scored sophomore Kelsey Sterud from third.

The middle innings became a pitchers’ duel between Prescott’s Graf and Ellsworth senior Kallie Beissel. The two star pitchers dealt four innings of scoreless softball before Prescott added another run in the top of the sixth and made it a 2-0 contest.

Ellsworth scored its lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Prescott dropped a fly ball which scored junior Aubrey Wittenberg from second base. Graf retired the final four batters in the sixth and seventh innings to secure Prescott’s 2-1 victory and the series sweep.

Although Ellsworth must deal with the frustration of getting swept by its biggest rival in a pair of pivotal games, the Panthers still have one regular season contest and the entire postseason ahead of them. Beissel reminded the girls of that after the loss on Thursday.

“Kallie (Beissel) reminded the girls after the game that our goals are still there,” Diercks said. “All of them are still there. We’re still in control of our destiny and our confidence should be strong. Their heads will be down a little bit, but they’ll rebound.”

Despite the losses, Ellsworth can still claim a share of the Middle Border Conference championship with a win on the road against Baldwin-Woodville on Monday, May 15. The first pitch for that contest is slated for 5 p.m.