Prep softball: Cadott's Barone strikes out 16 in playoff win against Augusta

Jack Goods, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·4 min read

Jun. 15—AUGUSTA — Cadott's MaKenna Barone was showing some wildness in the circle right out of the gate. The junior pitcher threw nine straight balls, walked in a run and set Augusta up for another bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the first inning of the teams' regional semifinal game in Augusta.

"I was ready to go, but maybe a little bit over-excited," Barone said. "I was kind of just throwing it out there. But then toward the end of the inning we got more serious and we looked at the scoreboard. It's like, now I really have to get going. Somehow all my pitches started coming in better and it all kind of worked out."

She locked in, and Beaver batters struggled to throw her off over the remainder of the game. She got out of the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout, a sign of things to come. With 16 total punchouts, she backed her Hornets to a 3-2 upset victory to open the team's playoff journey.

"In the past I've asked her coming out for the seventh inning, 'You got this?'" Cadott coach Karen Moldrem said. "She's like, 'Yes.' You just know she's going to come through. You always have that talk with her and we chit-chatted about how the game was going. She stayed pretty solid all the way through."

Barone also scored the go-ahead run, getting help from an Augusta error. A ball sent to the left side by her sister, Meadow, got through the infield in the fifth inning and allowed MaKenna to score easily from second base to break a 2-2 tie. It was one of seven errors for the Beavers, who could not overcome the self-inflicted wounds.

In the circle, she was all business after that first inning. She allowed just three hits overall, and the Beavers' second run came unearned. She was at her best in the seventh inning, facing the top of the Augusta order. Undaunted, she struck out the side with three swings and misses.

"The last inning all my rise balls just started going in better," Barone said. "It's just taking deep breaths, seeing that we've got this in the bag. My defense was backing me up. The whole team was just working so well together and we all just trust each other."

Cadott got on the board first, with Lauryn Goettl getting home on an error in the first inning. Augusta answered right back in the bottom of the frame when Barone walked Kennedy Korger in, but Cadott took the lead right back with an RBI single from Eva Enestvedt in the second.

The Hornets had a chance to add on in the third with the bases loaded and one out, but two straight outs at the plate helped Augusta keep things close.

Augusta tied it at 2 on an unsuccessful squeeze play, an attempt to get Sam Winsce in from third in the third inning. She was caught off the base, but managed to steal home after Meadow Barone threw to third base for a pick-off attempt.

"Fortunately for us Sam's a very good base-runner," Augusta coach Jake Krueger said.

The Beavers' best chance to score the rest of the way was robbed by Enestvedt, who made a running catch in right to likely keep a pair from completing a trip around the bases in the fourth. MaKenna Barone took care of things herself from there. Even when Augusta got its best batters up to the plate with its playoff hopes in the line, she was calm and collected.

"I was feeling very good," Krueger said. "That's who we wanted to come up, that's the situation we want. ... Right there it's been one to two runs almost every game this year. That's where we wanted to be, unfortunately it just didn't work out."

Augusta's season ends at 14-8. Cadott advances to take on top-seeded Glenwood City on Wednesday in the regional finals.

"Even though we got placed as a five seed I know that we're better than that," Moldrem said. "We're just going to show everybody."

Cadott 3, Augusta 2

Cadott 110 100 0 — 3 9 1

Augusta 101 000 0 — 2 3 7

WP: MaKenna Barone (7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 16 K). LP: Sam Winsce (7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Leading hitters: Cadott: Lauryn Goettl 2-4 (R), Eva Enestvedt 2-3 (RBI), Meadow Barone 2-4. Augusta: Bella Kewin 1-2 (BB), Kennedy Korger 1-3 (BB).