West Bend, WI — With a howling north wind making it hard to hit and wind chills that had the brave souls attending the game dressed like it was December at Lambeau Field, the West Bend West girls softball team had to adapt and find a way to score some runs against rival East Tuesday afternoon. And trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, they did, as Breleigh Ustruck lined Suns’ pitcher Carmen Beirsack’s leadoff offering over the rightfield fence to tie the game up. That hit opened the floodgates as the Spartans would end up scoring six more runs on five hits to take firm control in an 8-2 victory. Sophomore outfielder Mackenzie Rolf, who is on a sensational hot streak dating back to last week and who had three hits in the triumph over East, said it was all a matter of ignoring the conditions and just letting yourself swing the bat. “You really have to check your mind at the door sometimes,” she said, “and just let your muscle memory do the work. In the fifth we knew we just needed to go back to work. It was a struggle (with the weather), but we just had to find ways to get on base.” The victory was the fifth in a row for the Spartans, who improved their third-place record in the North Shore Conference to 8-2 and to 9-4 overall. The win streak last week included a shocking 18-6 rout of NSC co-leader Hartford and a victory over tough non-conference foe Arrowhead. The win over Hartford featured a shocking two grand slam homers and 10 RBI from Rolf. West coach Ken Dischler felt that it was only a matter of time before the Spartans broke through. “Breleigh got us started,” he said. “We’ve had confidence all along, but we’ve put together a series of good games recently. Pitching and defense are what we hang our hat on, but we feel we put a good line-up out there every night.” The win also gave the Spartans a season sweep with the Suns (4-6 and 5-9, respectively), though this game was much different, than the 11-0 run-rule rout West put on East back on April 10. East coach Mark Dechant saw some silver linings out of the defeat. “They (the Spartans) made some good adjustments in the fifth,” said Dechant, “but we’ve been playing better lately. The girls know they can play with these teams if they come together. We had some really good at bats and made some great contact tonight.” The Suns made it clear they were here to compete right from the start, putting two runners on in the top of the first, before West pitcher Lindsay Sandleback got a forceout to end the frame. They had another good chance in the second, as Suns’ infielders Shayla Rundberg and Emma Tews both singled, but Sandleback struck out the side, included Beirsack to silence the threat. West took a 1-0 lead in the second as Rolf doubled and was singled home by Eleanor Henschel. But East tied it up a frame later as Hilary van Beek walked, was sacrificed to second and then scored on a throwing error on a grounder to third. The Suns took the lead in the fourth with the use of more small ball as Claire Rehfeldt doubled, was sacrificed to third and then scored on Van Beek’s double. Beirsack maintained the lead in the fourth as she got out of a baseloaded jam by inducing Henschel to hit into an inning ending fielder’s choice on a full count pitch. By the Spartans finally caught up with Beirsack in the fifth. After Ustruck’s homer, Mia Buske walked which was followed by four successive hits, including RBI doubles from Sandleback and Paige Guse, and a run-scoring single from Rolf. Sophomore Maiya Tearney put the capper on the frame with a booming two-run double to center. “We had had a couple of good opportunities earlier, but we didn’t take advantage of them,” said Dischler. “We did a nice job of staying patient, because it was tough to do too much (offensively) into the wind.” With that lead, Sandleback just threw strikes the rest of the way, allowing a total of three baserunners the final two frames with the last of her seven strikeouts ending the game. Rehfeldt had three hits to lead the East offense, as Van Beek added two. Beirsack had four strikeouts while issuing four walks. Dechant thinks the Suns still have their best ball in them yet. “At the start of the year, I knew if we could come together and start playing the way we can, it could be exciting,” he said. “It’s not how start, but how you finish that counts.” Meanwhile, a total of seven Spartan players had hits led by Rolf’s three safeties and two runs scored. West is only one game back in the loss column in the NSC behind Hartford and Slinger. “We’ll continue to go with our strengths,” said Dischler, “and we’ll try to keep the momentum going one game at a time.” In the meantime, Rolf, who is hitting over .400 with a state top 10 total of 24 RBI, will look to see if the ball continues to look as big as a watermelon to her and if she can pass on a bit of that success to her teammates. “We’re hitting as a team,” she said, “and I’m just seeing the ball well and that makes it easier.” By Steven L. Tietz Daily News Correspondent Link to original Daily News article: https://westbenddailynews-wi.newsmemory.com/?publink=0f804f5e6_134ab8b&fbclid=IwAR0gbY31EBpn8KOfVQcF--o-Fbz6L5W8fagb86892embvquVW_-4d7VY-Cc