Marathon falls in softball sectional championship game
MARATHON CITY - The deep playoff run for the Marathon softball team came to an end in heartbreaking fashion Thursday, one win short of the Raiders' first appearance in the state tournament.
Raiders senior first baseman Amanda Kind found a way to take a positive spin to the loss.
"I definitely think it was a challenge for us to even get here," Kind said after a 6-5 loss to Phillips in a WIAA Division 4 sectional final. "We have such a young team. The first day of practice, we were like, 'OK, who has played outfield?'."'
The Raiders, with just three seniors on the roster, had a 5-2 lead, and the lead slipped away in the Phillips final two at-bats of the game. The Loggers (21-1) tied the game with three runs in the fifth inning and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on a squeeze play.
It's the first state tournament berth for Phillips, who has won 16 straight games. The Loggers had never advanced beyond the sectional semifinals in the program's history before Thursday.
Phillips faces Juda /Albany in a state semifinal matchup Thursday at Goodman Diamond in Madison.
Marathon (20-8) committed four errors in the loss, including one to open the sixth, which led to the winning score. The Raiders also had a play at the plate on the squeeze bunt, but the ball was knocked loose on the tag.
"We didn't put our best game out there today," Marathon coach Chad Thurs said. "But as far as being happy with our season (overall)? Most definitely. We're really young and a lot of kids were pressed into positions (this year) and today was the first time it really showed. We said at the start of the season this was going to be a growing experience and people were going to experience situations and pressure that they probably haven't experienced before. Mistakes are going to happen and we will grow and learn from it."
The Raiders remained poised despite falling behind 2-0 in the first inning. Marathon tied the game in the second on two hits, a walk, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. Marathon then hit two solo home runs in a span of three batters against Phillips starting pitcher Morgan Edwards.
Kenya Kaldunski hit a solo home run to center to lead off the inning. After Paige Kurtz flew out to the fence, Jenna Dick homered to center.
Kind gave the Raiders a three-run lead with a RBI single in the fifth, and Marathon seemed to be closing in on a state tournament berth.
That changed quickly, however.
The first three Phillips batters reached safely in the bottom half of the inning, including a single and error on a hit by Jojo Baratka, which led to two runs. The game was tied when the fourth batter, Michaela Ericksen, grounded out to short to bring another run in.
Just like that, the lead and eventually the game was gone for Marathon. The Raiders Hannah Hornung singled to lead off the seventh inning but the tying run never advanced beyond second base.
"Yeah, there's things you wish you could go back and redo, but that's not how it is. Mistakes happen," Marathon senior catcher Paige Kurtz said. "(Phillips) is an awesome team, probably the best one we have faced all year. I give them credit because they came back from a 5-2 (deficit)."
WP-Morgan Edwards. LP-Sasha Hornung. HR-Mara, Kenya Kaldunski, Jenna Dick. Leading hitters: Mara, Kaldunski 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, RBI
Records: Phillips 21-1, Marathon 20-8
Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or twjohnson@gannett.com; on Twitter @timmyjo11