Youth excelling early in softball

After struggling on the road against its first two North Shore Conference opponents, the Grafton High School softball team got Cedar Grove-Belgium right where it wanted it last Friday.

The Black Hawks clobbered the Rockets, 17-2, in a 15-run mercy-rule shortened three innings at home on their own new turf field.

Seven Hawks had multiple hits in a game that the team led 14-1 after the first inning. Two in the second and one in the third sealed walk-off victory.

Nobody was happier than senior pitcher Sara Paschke, who got to play her first game on Grafton’s new surface.

“I didn’t really want to miss out on my senior season,” Paschke said.

She was slated to be the team’s ace last year, but that got delayed when the season was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She likes her new home diamond, “especially for pitching. It doesn’t make indents, so it’s flat,” she said.

Paschke said the turf is warmer than dirt, and the game picks up speed since ground balls travel faster on the surface.

Paschke allowed two unearned runs and two hits in three innings, whiffing seven and walking two.

She also had three hits and scored three runs.

“The last two games we weren’t doing as well, but this game we definitely showed up with some bats, as the scoreboard shows,” Paschke said.

Sophomore Madi Johnson Hass had triples in her first two at-bats and three RBI, and she scored a run.

“She’s got great speed. She runs with abandon,” coach Mike Bergmann said. “She’s got a great mind for the game too. She can tell when somebody’s not looking and she can steal that extra base.”

Sophomore Jenna Isaacson was 3-for-3 with one RBI and one walk. She scored three runs. The lefty hitter took advantage of the turf by putting backspin on a couple of bunts.

Junior Lauren Malchow had two hits, two RBI, one walk and scored two runs. Freshman Reese Konczal had two hits, one walk and scored a run. Junior Dani Thompson and freshman Alicia Melotik each had two hits, one RBI and scored a run.

The win was the first of Bergmann’s career. He waited 18 months for it since he was named coach in fall 2019.

“It’s very exciting, something I’ll always remember,” he said.

On Monday, Grafton’s turf paid its first big dividend of many to come.

Down, 2-0 to Homestead in the rain, the Hawks scored two runs in the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead.

The Highlanders’ pitcher began to struggle in the fifth, walking the bases loaded and then walking Paschke to bring in a run.

Konczal followed by clocking a double that the center fielder barely got a glove on. That plated two more runs to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead and moved Paschke to third.

Ivana Micic then hit a grounder to the shortstop. Paschke “got a great jump off third” and got under the throw home for the Hawks’ fourth run, Bergmann said.

The rain had been picking up, matched by the anxiety level of everyone involved and watching. Nobody knew how long the game was going to continue.

“The bench was going, the brave crowd that was standing there under the umbrellas was feeding our excitement,” Bergmann said.

After Homestead had three batters come to the plate in the sixth inning, the umpires stopped the game.

“It got to the point where it was unsafe. You couldn’t even handle the ball,” Bergmann said.

After a 20-minute rain delay, the game was called. The rain didn’t let up.

“Obviously, we were excited to have that comeback. It would have been nice to play the whole game,” Bergmann said.

“I’m sure they feel shortchanged,” he said of the Highlanders.

The game never would have started on grass. The turf, Bergmann said, “at least got us the chance to play tonight.”

Paschke allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits in five innings, whiffing seven and walking four.

The Highlanders’ first run came on a single up the middle that took a wicked high hop and bounced over Avery Smith’s shoulder, then rolled to the fence in the first inning, allowing the runner to advance to third.

Two hits brought in the Highlanders’ other run in the fifth.

Micic had two of Grafton’s four hits.

The Hawks began the season with an 11-1 loss at Cedarburg on April 27. In 5-1/3 innings, Paschke allowed 11 runs (two earned) on seven hits, walking four and whiffing six. The Hawks had three hits.

The Hawks lost, 10-2, at West Bend East last Thursday. Thompson pitched six innings and allowed 10 runs (eight earned) on 12 hits, whiffing three. Isaacson had three hits.

The Hawks played at Whitefish Bay on Tuesday, host Hartford at 4 p.m. Thursday, play at Port Washington at 4:30 p.m. Monday and host Slinger at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 11.