Pirates aim to regroup after close losses

GILMAN SOFTBALL

The Gilman Pirates felt ready to be challenged heading into their threegame stretch this past week. Three losses later, they haven’t lost faith, they’ve just learned they have to be a little bit better.

The stretch of three close losses ended Tuesday with a 4-1 non-conference loss at Fall Creek, where a two-run fifth-inning rally by the Crickets broke a 1-1 tie.

The loss dropped Gilman to 7-6 overall, while the Crickets improved to 8-6.

Hannah Vick went two for three for Gilman, but not much else happened offensively against Fall Creek pitcher Sam Olson, who struck out 10 Pirates and walked two. Gilman tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third when Tychelle Duellman walked with two outs, stole second and scored on an error.

Addy Warner took the tough loss in the circle for Gilman. She struck out eight, walked three and only allowed three hits. According to head coach Brian Phelps, Gilman committed three errors in the fifth and sixth innings, helping the Crickets score their go-ahead runs.

The Pirates are now in the midst of a rare May week-long break in their schedule, which Phelps said comes at a perfect time for his young team.

“I felt our schedule this year set up really well,” he said. “We started out against some teams we could build some confidence against and we did that. Now we’re running into some solid teams and and finding out some things we need to get better at. Now with this week off, it will be nice to go back to work and get ready for the second round of conference games. We’re right in these games. We need to clean some things up. Hopefully this break sets the table for us to play some good ball the rest of the way.”

The second round of Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play starts Tuesday when Columbus Catholic visits Gilman. The Pirates head to Colby-Abbotsford on May 27.

One-run loss

A five-run third gave Gilman a 5-3 lead Monday, but Eastern Cloverbelt-leading Greenwood-Loyal got a run in the fourth and then took the lead for good with a three-run fifth and held off the Pirates 8-7.

With the win, the co-op held its league lead with a 5-0 record. Greenwood-Loyal is 7-3 overall. The co-op holds a half-game lead over 5-1 Neillsville and leads Gilman by a game and a half in the standings.

Warner struck out 18 batters, but Greenwood-Loyal made the best contact any team has against her this season, banging out eight hits.

“Their top five hitters are pretty good,” Phelps said. “When you put Greenwood and Loyal together, they can put together a pretty darn solid lineup.”

Bryn Hendricks was three for four with a double and two RBIs for Gilman. Vick was two for four with a double and a run scored. Duellman was two for four and Madisyn James was one for four with a double and two RBIs and she reached base twice on errors.

Gilman’s five-run inning started with a Vick single. Tatum Weir was hit by a pitch and Ava Warner singled. Duellman and Gracie Tallier reached on errors and James smacked her two-run double. Addy Warner hit a sacrifice fly and Hendricks singled.

Warriors 5, Pirates 1

Delaney Rochester pitched to contact and her defense did the job behind her in Neillsville’s 5-1 win Thursday over visiting Gilman.

Rochester struck out only two batters, walked five and allowed seven hits, but Gilman had trouble coming up with the big hit offensively. Defensively a couple of miscues were costly for the Pirates in their first league loss of the spring.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and were inches away from scoring more.

Hendricks led off with an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error. With two down, she scored on a single to left by Bailey Angell. Ava Warner walked and Duellman reached on an infield single. Tallier hit a hard ground ball that ricocheted off third baseman Ava Mortenson right to the shortstop backing up the play, Emma Moseley, who beat Angell to third base to get the force and end the inning.

Addy Warner pitched two scoreless innings behind a first-inning double play and four strikeouts, but the Warriors took the lead in the third and didn’t give it back. The rally started with two outs. Amelia Trunkel, the number-nine hitter, walked, took second on a wild pitch and went to third on Bella Opelt’s single to left. Trunkel scored on a wild pitch. Opelt scored on an infield error to make it 2-1.

An error led to Ella King’s RBI double in the fourth. Neillsville tacked on two more in the sixth, highlighted by a frozen rope hit by Rochester for an RBI triple.

Addy Warner finished with 11 strikeouts and only allowed four hits and one walk. Two of Neillsville’s runs were earned.

Angell was two for three for Gilman, while Duellman was two for four.