By Andrew Harrington

The softball/baseball playoffs have arrived, giving teams new life and one last chance to make a statement to end the year. Here is everything you need to know about each team’s matchup.

Elmwood/Plum City

EPC softball is the lone team to have played prior to May 26. The Division 5 No. 7 seed Wolves absolutely dominated No. 10 New Auburn in Plum City 11-0 in five innings. New Auburn struggled to find the strike zone, walking double-digit batters. A few hits sprinkled in was all EPC needed to make a statement. Lexi Snapp tossed the five shutout innings in the circle.

The win moved EPC on to a game against No. 2 Gilman on May 26. EPC, which finished 5-11 in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference, matched up against Gilman, which finished 6-6 in the Cloverbelt East.

After a strong start to the season, Gilman has struggled mightily of late. The Pirates have lost nine of 10, allowing double-digit runs in eight of the games. The key to an upset will be tallying up runs against pitching and defense that has struggled of late.

On the baseball diamond, Division 4 No. 7 EPC hosts No. 10 Clear Lake on May 28. EPC finished 5-11 in the Dunn-St. Croix, just ahead of 3-13 Clear Lake. The teams are far from strangers, splitting on May 21 and 22. EPC lost the first game 16-6 and took the second 11-5.

Clear Lake has struggled to find the strike zone this season. The game will come down to which team can locate pitches and which lineup will refuse to chase outside the zone.

Ellsworth

Division 2 No. 6 seed Ellsworth softball will take a road trip to face No. 3 West Salem on May 26. After a slow start to the season, the Panthers found a rhythm, finishing 7-7 in Middle Border Conference play. West Salem is no simple foe, though, going 11-1 to win the Coulee Conference.

The Panthers have a deep lineup and are capable of extra-base hits from top to bottom. The team has 10 home runs on the year and another 23 doubles. West Salem can do it all, led by senior Winona State commit Josie Brudos. She has an unfathomable 12 home runs and seven doubles, but she is committed to pitch, where she also boasts a 1.12 earned run average over 119 innings pitched.

Also in Division 2, as a No. 10 seed, Ellsworth is taking the long haul to Hayward to take on the No. 7 seed May 28. The Panthers were 5-9 in the Middle Border Conference, and the Hurricanes were 9-9 in the Heart O’ North.

The Hurricanes can hit, as five batters that have seen significant plate appearances are hitting over .300 on the season. They do not hit a ton of extra-base hits though, accounting for just 32 of their 185 hits this season. Ellsworth has gone toe-to-toe with the best, though, including splitting with an Altoona team that beat Hayward 9-1 and is the No. 2 seed that the winner between the Hurricanes and Panthers would face.

Prescott

Representing Division 3 as the No. 3 seed, Prescott softball gets underway May 26 against No. 6 Tomahawk. The Cardinals took fourth in the Middle Border with an 8-6 conference record as Tomahawk went 5-8 in the Great Northern Conference. The most comparable opponent is St. Croix Central, which Tomahawk beat 12-4 and Prescott beat 12-2 and 15-5.

Both teams are consistently strong at the plate, but Prescott has a leg up on the defensive side, led by Grace Ptacek and Ella Visger in the circle.

The Cardinals are also the Division 3 No. 3 seed in baseball, squaring off against Owen-Withee/Thorp on May 28. After finishing third in the Middle Border Conference with a 9-5 record, Prescott has high hopes coming into the postseason. Their opponents struggled to the tune of a 3-7 Cloverbelt East Conference record. Pitching struggles have been the story of the season, allowing double-digit runs eight times. Meanwhile, the mound is where Prescott thrives, finishing the regular season with a team earned run average of 2.23.

Spring Valley

Division 4 No. 5 seed Spring Valley will hit the road to face No. 4 Eleva-Strum on May 26 in what is expected to be a tight game. Coming off of a three-win season, the Cardinals went 8-8 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play. Eleva-Strum is no slouch either, going 9-6 in the Dairyland Large Conference.

Sluggers Maddea Brown and Ruby Bartholomew are the duo that make Eleva-Strum formidable, each batting over .400 while combining for about half of the team’s hits. Bartholomew is also the team’s primary pitcher and is lights out. They have allowed just six runs against in one single game this season, with every other game being five or less, emphasis on the less.

The matchup to watch will be Spring Valley pitcher Megan Harvey against Bartholomew, two of the area’s true masters at work.

Spring Valley baseball is a Division 4 No. 8 seed, hosting No. 9 Augusta on May 28. The Cardinals finished 4-12 in Dunn-St. Croix play, and Augusta was 3-11 in the Dairyland Large. Augusta has a streaky offense, eclipsing double-digit runs four times, but also being shut out five times. The Cardinals have struggled of late, losing five straight, so it will be interesting to see which team can spark a rally in the early innings.

River Falls

In Division 1 softball, No. 9 River Falls hits the road for a battle with No. 8 Menomonie on May 26. While both teams finished 7-7 in Big Rivers Conference play, it was Menomonie that came away with the regular season matchups 8-0 and 8-2.

Mustang pitcher Kinzleigh Cody got the ball in both outings against the Wildcats, so it is hard to imagine she will not be in the circle again for round three for all the marbles. Luckily for River Falls, they have 14 innings of experience against Cody to lean on at the plate on judgment day.

At the plate, Ellie Isenberger is the one to watch, entering with 15 extra-base hits, three of which came against River Falls.

The Division 1 baseball bracket does not get going until June 2, with No. 4 River Falls hosting Wausau West. At third in the Big Rivers Conference with a pair of games to play, the Wildcats are the favorites over the 4-9 Wisconsin Valley Conference opponent. Wausau West has won four of five but come in with a 1-3 record against BRC teams.

The Warrior offense has struggled mightily, and Wildcat pitchers Ethan Jeffers and Landon McQuade pitched shutouts in their previous outings, so whoever gets the ball will be tasked with keeping the Warriors quiet.

Keywords

Ellsworth Panthers,

EPC Wolves,

Prescott Cardinals,

River Falls Wildcats,

Spring Valley Cardinals,

baseball,

softball,

playoffs preview,

Middle Border,

Dunn-St. Croix,

Big Rivers