By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
WAUKESHA - Stevens Point Area Senior High softball coach Tom Drohner hoped his team could make some noise at the WIAA Division 1 state tournament.
The Panthers sure caused a commotion for opponents, advancing to the state championship game, where Appleton East edged SPASH 1-0.
The Patriots squeezed a run across in the third inning and the Panthers were unable to answer.
"We had some opportunities and we didn't get some key hits," Drohner said. "There's a couple of plays that didn't fall our way. It's a game of inches.
"They worked so hard and I'm so, so proud of them. This has just been a great group."
The Panthers had chances in the second and sixth innings to get on the scoreboard. Lacey Groshek led off the second with a single to centerfield. Pinch runner Sheri Pavelski moved to second on Kristin Rosicky's sacrifice bunt and over to third on Erica Hojnacki's sacrifice. But with two away, Jenny Maultra struck out to end the threat.
In the sixth, Sam Polito had a two-out single to centerfield and then stole second base. Rachel Ploetz grounded to first baseman MecKenzie Gilbertson to end the inning.
The Panthers were victimized by several nice defensive plays by East. Rightfielder Nicole King made a sliding catch in the sixth and a shoestring catch in the seventh.
East's run in the third inning was unearned. Chrissy Schneider reached on an infield error, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Jill Frome then laid down a bunt between home plate and third base, and pitcher Alexis Mains' throw to home was not in time. Frome moved over to third base on a groundout and a wild pitch, but Mains got Katie Karbon to ground out to end the inning.
"It's disappointing it has to happen that way. You don't want to point fingers at anybody because you play as a team. You pick up mistakes as a team," Drohner said. "There's nothing you can do about it, it's part of the game."
Mains allowed only three hits and walked one but didn't strike out a batter. East's pitcher, Karbon, scattered two hits and struck out five.
SPASH's unexpected run to the state championship game forced the Panthers to reassess their goals as the season progressed.
"(The loss) doesn't take away from what we accomplished," Drohner said. "We just kept accomplishing some of our goals and the next thing you know we're accomplishing the new goals."
While SPASH loses seven seniors to graduation, the sophomore Mains will be back. Groshek, Hojnacki, Ploetz, Rosicky, Kristin Feltz, Jodi Kostuchowski and Paula Swanson were the team's seniors.
"The centerpiece of our whole team is Alexis Mains. She'll be here for two more years," Drohner said.
"Our future looks bright. I just feel bad for the seniors - they came up a bit short but that's part of the game."
The Panthers edged Oak Creek 3-2 in extra innings to advance to the title game. After falling behind 2-0, SPASH picked up single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and then won the game in the bottom of the ninth.
In the ninth, Polito's single to leftfield drove in freshman Maultra from second base. Maultra walked and then moved to second on Michele Rosicky's sacrifice bunt.
Mains allowed six hits and struck out one batter. She walked three, but two were intentional passes.
"She mixed her stuff up and kept people off balance," Drohner said.
Mains fired a no-hitter in Tuesday's 1-0 quarterfinal win over Homestead.
Mains struck out nine and was a sixth-inning fielding error away from a perfect game.
"I was just trying to concentrate hard," Mains said, adding she really didn't think about the no-hitter during the game. "The changeup was big. It's always big."
SPASH scored the game's only run in the first inning. Kristin Zortman reached on an error to lead off the game and moved to second on a Ploetz single. Feltz's double to left-centerfield drove in Zortman.