A late rally and some solid defense gave the Bonduel High School softball team its second Central Wisconsin Conference-8 win of the season Thursday, a 9-7 road victory over Weyauwega-Fremont.
With the win, the Bears (2-1, 2-1 CWC-8) have exceeded last year’s 1-6 conference mark only three games into the season.
The game, which was moved to Weyauwega because rain made Bonduel’s diamond unplayable, looked bleak five innings in after the Indians took a 7-1 lead.
“We were up 1-0, and we thought we were kind of on a roll, and then they had that run,” Bonduel coach Chris Reinke said. “We just kind of pulled them in and said, ‘Hey, they made us come over here, let’s get the bats going.’”
The Bears got their footing in the third, scoring three runs, cutting the lead to 7-4.
In the seventh, the first two Bonduel batters walked, then Weyauwega-Fremont allowed three batters to reach base on fielder’s choices. Alexa Reinke had an RBI single, Jennifer Dowden added a run on a bases-loaded walk and Kaylee Rynish hit a two-RBI single to give the Bears an 8-7 lead. Courtney Schmidt added an RBI single to cushion Bonduel’s lead.
Weyauwega-Fremont (5-2, 4-2 CWC-8) led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and a single, then tried a bunt to get a score, but the play backfired. Third baseman Alexa Reinke charged the ball, made the throw home to get an out, and then the Bears made a play at third for the double play. Dowden struck out the last batter to seal the win.
Dowden finished with seven strikeouts and three walks. She pitched the entire game, allowing 13 hits and seven runs.
Reinke finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs.
Karissa Akey took the loss for Weyauwega-Fremont. She pitched seven innings, allowed four hits, issued 15 walks and struck out eight.
The weather had both pitchers switching balls as often as they could.
“I think (the rain) hurt (Akey) more,” Chris Reinke said. “It seemed to rain more when they were out in the field. The batters were patient; that was very helpful.”
Miranda Schmidt scored on a passed ball in the first inning for to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.