By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – The Pulaski softball team was one walk and a hit away from perfection in its April 9 game with Notre Dame Academy.
Behind the pitching of Emma Wiese and Lauren Dixon, the Red Raiders posted an 8-0 victory over the Tritons in a Fox River Classic Conference game played at Parkway Riverside Park.
Wiese issued only a walk in her three innings of work, while Dixon surrendered a lone hit in four innings of relief.
The two combined for 12 strikeouts on the mound.
Notre Dame’s Olivia Vanden Elzen broke up the no-hitter with a two-out, fifth-inning single to center field.
“Both ladies pitched really well,” said Pulaski head coach Billi Jo Vertz. “It’s great to have two quality pitchers because if one is having an off day, the other can pitch. In these early games where the girls are still kind of getting their arms in shape, we can platoon them.”
With the game scoreless after two innings, Pulaski (3-0 overall, 3-0 FRCC) broke through in the third to take a 2-0 lead.
Wiese knocked in Jordyn Josphson, who led off the inning with a single and then stole second, with an RBI hit for the first run.
Josie Wesoloski scored the second run on an outfield error.
“Pulaski is always tough and at the top of the conference,” said Notre Dame head coach Steve Broekman. “We struggle a little bit with pitchers who throw harder, so we have some things to work on.”
The Red Raiders blew the game open with four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
“We played well overall and got a lot of girls into the game,” added Vertz. “No matter who we had on the field, the girls executed, even though it was cold. The first two innings we let the girls hit away trying to adjust to the speed of the pitcher. After that, we went to a little more small ball to get back to the basics.”
A brisk 20 mph wind was present throughout the entire game.
Dixon and Hannah Kreuser both had a pair of hits for Pulaski, while Wesoloski, Mackenzie Niespodzany, Peighton Agamaite, Brockman, Wiese, Ashlyn Szymanski and Brynn Egnarski each added one in the Red Raiders’ 11-hit attack.
Bridget Kapic allowed all eight runs for Notre Dame (0-3, 0-2), but only four were earned due to three errors by the Tritons.
“We hung around for a few innings, but our mental errors cost us,” added Broekman. “We also had a few plays that needed to be made that we didn’t make. We are playing good teams right now, and we can’t make those mistakes. We are stressing that the mental part of the game is just as important as the physical part.”
Box score
Pulaski: 002 042 0 – 8 11 0
Notre Dame: 000 000 0 – 0 1 3