Softball: Tigers heading to state for just second time ever

A pair of dominant pitching performances and some timely hitting gave the New Richmond softball team a pair of 1-0 victories in sectional play last week and punched the Tigers’ first ticket to state since 1995 and just the second in program history.

Kennedy Joachim pitched a four-hit shutout and Brier Blietz drove in the only run of the game with a double in the bottom of the sixth in a 1-0 victory over D.C. Everest in the sectional semifinal last Tuesday at home.

Thursday in the sectional final against Big Rivers Conference rival Chippewa Falls in Baldwin, Joachim held the Cardinals to two hits and Kylie Kieffer had a sixth-inning RBI single as the Tigers earned the sectional title with another 1-0 victory.

New Richmond, now 21-3, received the No. 5 seed in the 8-team Division 1 bracket and will open state tournament play against No 4 Milton (24-2) in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 2 p.m. at Goodman Diamond in Madison.

In the sectional semifinal last Tuesday the top-seeded Tigers had just two hits against No. 3 seed D.C. Everest, but those two hits resulted in the only run of the game in their 1-0 win over the Evergreens.

Brooklyn Swanepoel reached on a two-out bunt single in the bottom of the sixth inning, just the second Tiger baserunner of the game, and Blietz followed with an RBI double to break the scoreless tie.

Joachim retired the Evergreens in order in the top of the seventh for the first time all day to put the 1-0 victory in the books.

Joachim struck out 10, including four inning-ending Ks that stranded a total of six Evergreen baserunners, while giving up four hits and four walks.

D.C. Everest had runners on base in every inning but the seventh. They had a two-out double in the first before Joachim got a strikeout to leave the runner at third. In the second inning the Evergreens had runners at second and third with one out but Joachim got out of the inning with two strikeouts.

DCE stranded a runner at first in the top of the third, and had runners at first and second with one out in the fourth before Joachim got a strikeout and shortstop Mimi Brinkman snagged a line drive to end the inning.

New Richmond got its first base runner of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Catelyn Swanepoel reached on a two-base error but was left stranded. The Evergreens put runners at first and second with no outs in the top of the fifth but Joachim got two pop-ups and a strikeout to get out of that jam. Then in the sixth DCE got a two-out triple, but Joachim struck out the next batter to keep it a scoreless game.

In the bottom of the sixth the first two New Richmond batters struck out, two of 16 Tiger strikeouts in the game, before leadoff hitter Brooklyn Swanepoel beat out a bunt down the third base line for the Tigers’ first hit of the game and came all the way around on a double to right by Blietz.

Joachim got a strikeout, a fly out and a strikeout in the seventh, the first time the Evergreens were retired in order in the game, to give the Tigers the 1-0 win.

In the sectional final Thursday against No. 4 seed Chippewa Falls, Joachim struck out eight and allowed just two hits in the Tigers’ 1-0 win.

Joachim didn’t allow a hit after the third inning. She walked the first two batters in the fourth but a double play and groundout ended the threat, and a Cardinal reached on an error and stole second with two outs in the sixth but was left stranded.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Brinkman stroked a leadoff single, stole second, and moved to third on a grounder to second by Gingerann Lucas. Kieffer followed with a two-out single to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead, and Joachim retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the seventh to seal the Tigers’ berth at state.