The Janesville baseball and softball teams took on Don Bosco at home on Wednesday, June 4. The baseball team lost in a low scoring matchup 1-0, and the softball team lost 9-1.
Janesville baseball drops first game of the season
The Wildcat baseball team played their most important game of the year thus far, taking on the Don Bosco Dons for the lead of the Iowa Star Conference North. After the Wildcats’ win against Dunkerton on Monday, June 2, Head Coach Ryan Destival anticipated a high-scoring matchup between the two teams. Instead, the game was the complete opposite.
In the first inning, Payton Regenold would bat in Ty Christensen to give the Dons an 1-0 lead. That first inning run would be the only run scored in the game, as both pitchers took over the game from there on.
For the Wildcats, Trevor Santee pitched all seven innings, striking out six batters while allowing just three hits and three walks. For the Dons, Aidan Nielsen also pitched the entire game, striking out seven, walking one batter, and allowing just four hits.
After the game, Destival talked about what he believed caused the game to be so low scoring.
“I think it has a lot to do with this being a rivalry game, and also for [the lead of] the conference. I think there was a lot of nerves and anxiety that played a factor. There’s some really good batters on both sides, and they were just shut down by the pitchers,†said Destival.
“Tonight [the problem was] our pitch selection. I thought we were getting out on our front foot. We were swinging at pitches that were outside and in the dirt, even when we were opening the count. That’s something we’re going to work on tomorrow,†Destival added.
Blayne Porter led the team from the ninth batting position, where he finished with two of the teams’ four hits. Kole Haan and Isaac Jones also added one hit apiece.
In the following days after the team’s loss to the Dons, they took on No. 2 ranked Saint Ansgar and Colo-Nesco. The Wildcats would drop their second straight game to a talented Saints team, 14-2.
In five innings of play, the Wildcats would once again struggle at the plate. Jones, Haan and Gabe Meaney would each record one hit a piece, which would represent the Wildcats’ only hits of the game. Meaney also finished with the lone RBI for the Wildcats in the game.
After back-to-back losses, the Wildcats would get back in the win column against Colo-Nesco. The Wildcats would use a five-run fourth inning to defeat the Royals 9-1.
Next for the team will be a matchup against North Tama on Tuesday, June 10 at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo. That game begins at 7 p.m. The team will also have another game against Don Bosco on June 30, as they look to split the season series and hunt down the conference title.
Janesville softball struggles to get things going against Don Bosco
On the softball side, the Wildcats lost by a much larger margin. The team fell to the Dons 9-1 as the offense couldn’t get hits strung together.
The Wildcat girls played a fine game offensively, finishing with six hits and three reached-on-errors. Those numbers were no match for the Dons, who finished with 12 hits, including a home run, and five walks.
On the mound for the Wildcats was Zoey Barnes, who turned in an admirable seven strikeouts in the game. Barnes and the Wildcat defense, who committed three errors in the game, were unable to keep runners off base, leading to the lopsided win for the Dons.
Head Coach Shelly Sorensen talked after the game about her team’s performance.
“We just couldn’t get an runs [scored], and I thought we came out kind of flat on defense as well. But [Don Bosco] earned it tonight, they were better than us. But we’ll bounce back and pick ourselves up,†said Sorensen.
Sorensen also talked about what they team is looking to improve.
“It’s always being ready on defense and knowing where the play should be. We talk about it all the time, but when it happens in the game we’re not always on top of things,†said Sorensen.
Ally Eibey and Carlie Rupe led the team with two hits apiece. Lauren Meaney and Dani Hughes also added one hit each, as Meaney finished with the lone RBI of the game.
The team wouldn’t have to wait long to bounce back though. The following day, the Wildcats defeated Colo-Nesco by a score of 14-0. The team then played a trio of games at the Hudson Tournament against Dunkerton, Hudson, and a rematch against the Dons.
The Wildcats started their day with another win against Dunkerton 10-1, which was followed by a loss to Hudson, 13-4. In their rematch against the Dons, the team was able to pull off the 6-5 win to move to 1-1 on the season against the Dons.
The Wildcats will play the Dons for the third and final time in the regular season on June 30 at 5 p.m. Before that, the team will travel to play host GMG in Garwin on Wednesday, June 11. That game begins at 5 p.m.
