St. Croix Central softball season comes to end with 6-2 loss at Ellsworth

Talk about it

The 2012 season came to an end for the St. Croix Central softball team at Ellsworth last Friday.

Central had a promising start, scoring in each of the first two innings. The Panthers continued to get runners into scoring position, but they couldn’t get them home, losing to Ellsworth 6-2. Ellsworth was the third seed in the WIAA Division 2 regional tournament bracket and Central was the sixth seed.

Central ends the season with a 9-12 record.

The tournament game started on a promising note. Arinn DiSalvo led off the game by reaching on an error. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second base. She scored on Kalli Armagost’s single.

The second inning run was the result of a long home run slugged by Central senior first baseman Shelby Thomley.

Central had chance after chance. In each of the following innings, they got a baserunner to second or third base, but none of them made it home.

One inning of bad defense by Central decided the game. Central committed three errors in the fourth inning and Prescott was awarded a run on baserunner interference when Central made a defensive mistake on a rundown play between third base and home plate. That mistake was crushing, because the next Ellsworth batter hit a three-run homer that broke a 2-2 tie.

Central had eight hits in the game, compared to six for Ellsworth. Amanda Ruvelson led Central with two hits. Kelly Harrington pitched the playoff game for Central, allowing two earned runs.

This was the final game for the Panthers under Coach Jim Anderson, who told the players about his plans to retire following the loss in Ellsworth. Anderson coached the Panthers for eight seasons, finishing above the .500 level in seven of those seasons.

Win over Elmwood

The Panthers won their final game in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference last Tuesday, outslugging Elmwood 14-11.

The runs came at a furious pace in this game. Central scored six times in the second inning to take a 6-1 lead. That lead wasn’t safe, because Elmwood scored seven times in the third inning. The Panthers regained the lead at 10-8 with three runs in the top of the fifth inning, but Elmwood tied the score in the bottom of the inning. Central took the lead for good with two runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh.

Armagost and Hailey Rock were the offensive leaders for the Panthers, both of them totaling three hits. Rock reached base in all five of her plate appearances and she scored four runs. Armagost, who has been flirting with a .500 batting average all season, put the game away with a two-run homer in the seventh inning.

Kelly Harrington and Nicole Nogal split the pitching duties, the first time Harrington hasn’t pitched the complete game for the Panthers this season.

Team Awards

The Panthers have announced their team awards for the 2012 season. Here are the winners:

Batting champion: Kalli Armagost

Rookie of the Year: Arinn DiSalvo

Coaches Award: Heidi Feyereisen

Tags: sports, panthers, softball, prep