After dropping its first three games, the River Falls softball team got its first mark in the win column last week Thursday, May 6 when they hosted Menomonie. The Wildcats got revenge with a 12-0 win after falling to the Mustangs just two days before at home, 7-5.

“The biggest positive this season is getting our first win over a good Menomonie team last Thursday,” Coach Chantele Torrez said. “We finally were able to string several good hits together and put 12 runs on the board, along with shutting them out, we played a complete game.

“We are a very young team. Eight out of our nine starters are in their first seasons of high school softball, so that’s a big jump going from summer travel ball to varsity.

“We have a lot of talented and athletic kids, but each day we are working to improve their softball IQ’s and get them used to playing at that higher level. We have struggled a little at the plate, facing better pitching than they have seen before, so always working on quality at bats, seeing more pitches and working the count.”

The Wildcats have a shortened season_but still have a big goal to finish among the best in the Big Rivers Conference.

“Our main goal is still to finish top five in the Big Rivers, so we need to come ready to play each game,” Torrez told the Pierce County Journal. “We can’t take plays off. Take it pitch by pitch and win each inning.”

River Falls fell to Baldwin-Woodville on Saturday, 6-1. They traveled to Rice Lake on Tuesday after this publication was sent off to print. Rice Lake comes to River Falls on Thursday for a 5 p.m. game before traveling to Ellsworth on Monday night to take on the Panthers.