Madison, WI – In a heart-stopping championship battle filled with clutch hits and late-inning heroics, the Madison Night Mares walked off the Minot Honeybees, 6-5, to win their first-ever Northwoods League Softball crown.<\/p>\n
Isabela Emerling (University of Oklahoma) started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, with an RBI single to give the Night Mares a 1-0 lead. Madison would add on in the third inning as NWL Softball Player of the Year Hilary Blomberg (University of Wisconsin) hit a two-run double to push the lead to 3-0.<\/p>\n
The Honeybees came storming back in the top of the fourth inning with a two out rally. Bella Cimino (University of North Florida) got the Honeybees on the board with a solo home run, her second homer of the series. Later in the inning, Taylor Chillingworth (San Jose State University) launched a three-run home run to give the Honeybees a 4-3 lead.<\/p>\n
The lead didn\u2019t last long, as Blomberg drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at four. Jackie Albrecht (University of North Dakota) stayed calm and collected in the circle and retired two straight hitters with the bases loaded to prevent any further damage.<\/p>\n
The score stayed the same through innings five and six, with Albrecht and Paytn Monticelli (LSU) battling in the circle for their respective teams. The Honeybees broke through in the seventh inning, as Cimino hit an RBI infield single to give Minot a late 5-4 lead.<\/p>\n
With the Night Mares down to their final three outs, Danielle Lucey (University of Wisconsin) came through with one of the biggest swings of her life. She drilled a game-tying solo home run to left center field, sending Warner Park into a frenzy and evening the score at five.<\/p>\n
The next two batters reached base, setting the stage for Trinity Kennemer (Metropolitan State University of Denver) to be the hero. With two strikes in the count, she sent a ground ball into center field, and Addison Blomberg (University of Wisconsin) dove in ahead of the throw to score the championship-winning run. <\/p>\n
The Night Mares stormed the field to celebrate the championship victory. Monticelli earned the win in the circle for Madison, while Albrecht was charged with the loss for Minot. Each starting pitcher tossed nearly 150 pitches on the night.<\/p>\n
The win marks the first title in franchise history for the Night Mares, who finish the season with a Northwoods League season high 37 victories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Madison, WI – In a heart-stopping championship battle filled with clutch hits and late-inning heroics, the Madison Night Mares walked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":17421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n