Lady Robins advance to regional final with 6-2 win over Merrill June 2, 2010 The Red Robin bats may have started off a little impatient in the box for the opening round of WIAA regional softball play, but things changed through the first three innings as the girls settled down at the plate and rattled Merrill’s Megan Pehlke on the mound.
Taking a 1-0 lead, Antigo jumped all over Merrill in the fifth inning to claim the 6-2 win and the opportunity to advance.
Antigo will now face the No. 1 seed Marshfield on Friday in Marshfield.
Head coach Jeff Neufeld admits knowing little about Marshfield, “We need to prepare for speed, they are quick. Marshfield will take any extra base hits that the can get. But if we play our defensive game and get our lead off players on we will be ok. We are a dangerous team—these girls are not ready for the season to end.”
The real playmaker for the Robins came from Hannah Griffiths who came off the bench in the bottom half of the fifth. Getting on base with a walk, she advanced to third by wild pitches before Heather Kakes sent her home.
A rattled Pehlke helped the Robins efforts in issuing a total of four walks while allowing two hits for the five runs in the inning.
Merrill came back with a lone run in the sixth, but the momentum would not swing the other way as Antigo procured the victory.
Kakes, Christie Kondzela, Mollie Nowinsky and Amanda Kessler recorded the four hits for the Robins.
Kessler was awarded the win on the mound. In six innings of work she gave up five hits and two runs, while striking out three.
“Amanda threw a great game,” Neufeld said. “She gave up her first hit in the fourth inning on an infield hit. She was squeezed a little in the strike zone and got into a couple of jambs, but our defense backed her up.”
“This was a great game to win,” he added.
Stringing together three consecutive wins, Antigo now carries a 15-8 record heading into Thursday’s regional final game. The contest between Antigo and Marshfield is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.
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