Zielke strikes out 22 batters
By Greg Seubert
The Manawa softball team picked up a pair of Central Wisconsin Conference North Division wins over Gresham.
The Wolves handed the Wildcats a 4-2 defeat April 30 in Manawa and picked up a 7-4 win April 26 in Gresham.
Manawa 4, Gresham 2
Sydney Bailey led the Wolves with three hits – all singles – while Chloe Johnson added two hits and Lesley Wilz and Kirstin Schernecker added one each.
The Wolves came up with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Gresham tied the game in the top of the third. Manawa scored in its half of the third before Gresham tied the game again in the fifth. The Wolves answered with runs in the fifth and sixth before holding the Wildcats scoreless the rest of the way.
Morgyn Zielke held Gresham to three hits and struck out nine batters to pick up the win on the mound.
Manawa 7, Gresham 4
Zielke struck out 13 batters and held the Wildcats to three hits to pick up the win. She also had two of the Wolves’ five hits, including a triple. Johnson also had a triple for the Wolves.
Gresham scored four runs off of Zielke in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-1 lead, but Manawa answered with two runs in the third and fourth and single runs in the fifth and sixth.
The Wolves improved to 5-1 on the season with the wins. Manawa played a rescheduled game in Bowler May 1 and will head to Tigerton Thursday, May 3, to face Tigerton at 4:30 p.m. The Wolves will also play at Marion at 4:30 p.m. Monday, May 7.