The Brodhead Cardinals will venture away from home to face off against the Dodgeville Dodgers at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Brodhead sitting on four straight wins and Dodgeville on seven.
Fans were treated to a battle of the Cardinals on Friday. Everything went Brodhead's way against Columbus as they made off with a 6-0 victory. Give Brodhead's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Ava Risum made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one run.
In other batting news, Tatum Ceslok was incredible, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Keegan Steinke also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but Dodgeville ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They had just enough and edged out Richland Center 4-3.
Like Brodhead, Dodgeville also got a great game from a two-way player: Ava Lord. On the mound, she struck out six batters over nine innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. Lord was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two runs.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Brienna Wasley, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs. Those four hits gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Emma Dougherty, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.
Brodhead's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average this season. As for Dodgeville, their record now sits at 8-4.
