By Reagan Hoverman

Whether it’s inexperience, the weather conditions, or limited practice time, three local softball programs in River Falls, Elm wood/Plum City and Spring Valley are off to a slow start for the

2022 season.

River Falls is 2

8 to start the year, Spring Valley is 1

2 and Elmwood/Plum City is 1

4. The Spring Valley Cardinals have been impacted by weather, postponements and cancellations as much – if not more – than any other team in western Wisconsin this year.

Three games including two Dunn St. Croix Conference matchups have either been postponed or canceled this year. The first game of the year was on April 1 on the road against Durand,

a 13

3 loss that featured a 10

run bottom of the third inning by Durand which put the game away.

After two postponements against Elk Mound and Saint Croix Central on Monday, April 4, and Friday, April 8, respectively, Spring Valley traveled to Boyceville for another conference game. That Monday afternoon game was an 11

0 loss in which Spring Valley tallied only two hits at the plate.

However, the Cardinals bounced back on Tuesday, April 19, with a shootout victory against Colfax in the Cardinals’ third con

ference game of the season. The 12

10 victory featured two dom inant innings by Spring Valley, the bottom of the fourth and bottom of the sixth, in which the Cardinals scored six and five runs respectively.

Notable offensive contributions include Paige Peabody going

3

5 at the plate with two RBIs, and Kaylee Eschenbach going 3 5 at the plate, also driving in two runs. In total, Spring Valley had

16 hits and 12 runs scored in the victory.

The next game on the calendar for Spring Valley is on Thurs day, April 28, when the Cardinals host an undefeated Elk Mound squad. That game is set to begin at 5 p.m.

Elmwood/Plum City falls to Colfax 65

After starting the season with a thrilling 16

14 victory against Florence on Saturday, April 9, the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves have lost four straight games including three Dunn St. Croix Conference matchups.

In the aforementioned victory against Florence, the Wolves showed just how explosive their offense can be. Senior Hailee McDonough went 3

5 in that game with an RBI, senior Maggie Glaus went 3

5 with three runs scored and an RBI and both Brooke Schwebach and Hannah Baier tallied three RBIs in the game.

Since that game, Elmwood/Plum City has lost several close contests, including a 7

9 loss against Elk Mound, a 6

8 loss against Durand and a 5

6 loss against Colfax. In all three of those losses, the Wolves have committed more errors than the other team.

If Elmwood/Plum City can clean up some of those errors in future games, they will likely get back to or even exceed .500 softball because the offense has done its job through the first five games of the season.

See SOFTBALL, Page B-5 SOFTBALL

From Page B-

Up next for the Wolves is a Thursday, April 28 home game against Boyceville. That game is slated to begin at 5 p.m.

River Falls wins two straight over Reedsburg, Black River Falls

The River Falls High School softball team is on a two game win streak after victories against Reedsburg and Black River Falls, ending the Wildcats’ eight

game losing streak dating back to the beginning of the season.

The two

game winning streak began on Saturday, April 23. The first contest was against Black River Falls, which resulted in an 18

9 win for the Wildcats. Through two innings, River Falls led Black River Falls 2

1, that’s when the Wildcats’ offense ex

ploded in the top of the third inning with a 10

run scoring barrage that blew the game open.

Five Wildcats had two or more RBIs on the day including Ali Laube, Jordan Schwantz, Avery Amidon, Lilly Burke and Alisha Latham. After scoring 18 runs against Black River Falls, the Wildcats carried the offensive momentum into the Saturday af

ternoon game against Reedsburg.

Both teams were strong in the first five innings of the Saturday afternoon game. Going into the seventh inning, the game was tied

12

12 with River Falls up to bat. The Wildcats strung together several hits, ran the bases effectively and hung eight runs on the Reedsburg pitching staff to win 20

12.

Despite struggling in the first several weeks of the season, River Falls has found its stride offensively and with more practice time coming as the weather gets better, the defense will likely improve.

Up next for the Wildcats is a game at home against Rice Lake on Thursday, April 28. That contest will begin at 5 p.m.