Prairie du Chien Softball goes 3-1 to start off season
Submitted by admin on Sun, 04/13/2025 - 12:14
Prairie du Chien’s Ella Lange makes a terrific over the shoulder catch in foul territory to get the Hawks out of the inning during the Hawks game against Homewood-Flossmoor as pitcher Kristin Nolan looks on. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Third Base Coach Pat Hall waves senior Ireylnd Cejka home as she rounds third base. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
Prairie du Chien softball started their 2025 campaign this past week with four games in three days.
The Hawks traveled to Barneveld last Thursday, Apr. 3 and came away with a wild 13-10 season opening win. Prairie jumped out to leads of 3-0 in the first and 5-1 in the second inning before the hosts came storming back.
After the Hawks increased their lead to 7-3 going into the bottom of the fourth when the host Eagles pushed a run across the scoreboard to make the score 7-4. Following a scoreless half inning by Prairie, the Eagles took their first lead of the game at 9-7 thanks to a five-run fifth inning.
Barneveld’s lead would be short lived. The Hawks retook the lead with four runs to go into the bottom of the sixth inning leading 11-9. The Eagles would cut the Hawks lead in half with one run as the game headed to the seventh 11-10. Prairie du Chien would get two big insurance runs in their half of the seventh inning before holding the Eagles scoreless in an inning for the second time in the game and earning a wild 13-10 non-conference victory.
Sophomore April Smith led the Hawks offensive attack by going 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, one walk and four RBIs. Starting pitcher Claire Kennedy helped her own cause by going 3-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs. Also having multiple hits in the win was Brecklyn McCumber (2-for-4 with two doubles, one run scored and one RBI). Also adding to the offensive barrage for Prairie was Irelynd Cejka (1-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored, two walks and two RBIs) and Bailey Halvorson (1-for-2 with a double, two runs scored, two walks and one RBI). Kennedy pitched all seven innings to earn the win (10 runs (one earned) on 14 hits and three walks with eight strikeouts).
The next day the Hawks traveled to the Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston for a trio of non-conference games spread over two days. First up for the Hawks was the Cumberland Beavers and like the night before, the Hawks offense was hot as the Hawks defeated Cumberland 14-3. PdC got multiple hits in the win from Cejka, Rita Achenbach, Kennedy and McCumber with Laney Mitchell, Camryn Knapp, Ella Lange and Halverson each adding a hit. Kennedy and McCumber each had a triple in the win. Kennedy allowed three runs (one earned) on 10 hits and zero walks with nine strikeouts to earn the complete game victory.
PdC began competition Saturday morning by taking on the Florence Bobcats and the Hawks found themselves trailing 3-0 after half an inning. PdC responded with four runs in the bottom of the first and four more in the bottom of the second to lead 8-3 going into the third inning. The Bobcats pushed one run across in their half of the inning before the Hawks scored twice in the bottom of the inning and four times in the bottom of the fifth to earn a 14-4 win in five innings.
Achenbach finished a double short of the cycle as she went 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple, home run, four runs scored, one walk and three RBIs to pace the Blackhawks. Kennedy (3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBIs) also had three hits in the win. Also having multiple hits in the win were Smith, Knapp, McCumber and Halvorson (a double and triple). Kennedy earned the win by scattering four runs (all earned) on four hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts across five innings.
Prairie du Chien wrapped their weekend with the first official game against an out-of-state school in the program’s 40-year history when they took on the Homewood-Flossmoor (Ill.) Vikings. Located in the southern suburbs of Chicago, Homewood-Flossmoor’s 2024-25 enrollment of 2,750 students makes the school the 30th largest high school in Illinois according to the IHSA.
The Vikings took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. They added to that lead with one run in the second and two more in the third to lead the Hawks 4-0 after three innings. PdC would not go quietly as they climbed right back into the game with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 4-3. The H-F Vikings answered the Hawks rally immediately with three more runs in the bottom of the inning to make the score 7-3. Prairie du Chien once again responded by score two more runs of their own to cut the deficit to two runs as H-F held onto a 7-5 lead after four and a half innings. The Hawks were unable to completely stop the Vikings as they added four more runs to lead 11-5 after five innings. The Hawks kept them scoreless in the sixth inning but were not able to push anymore runs across as Homewood-Flossmoor defeated Prairie du Chien 11-5, in what turned out to be the closest game of the week for the Vikings.
Offensively, the Hawks actually outhit the Vikings eight to six in the loss. Kennedy finished the game a home run short of the cycle as she went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI in the loss. Cejka (2-for-4 with one run scored) and Mitchell (2-for-3 with one RBI) also collected multiple hits in the game. Smith (1-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI) added a double for the Hawks other hit.
Kristin Nolan made her varsity debut on the mound, allowing 11 runs (two earned) in six innings pitched on six hits and seven walks while striking out two batters against a Vikings squad that had scored 11 or more runs in three of their first six games of the season (including 15 against Lake Mills on Friday afternoon). The Hawks fell to 3-1 with the loss while H-F improved to 5-2.
Following the game at Boscobel, the Hawks will finally begin their 2025 home schedule by welcoming Platteville to town before hosting their annual tournament this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at Bluff View.
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