CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Grantsburg softball team got some sun and multiple victories to start the 2023 season.
The Pirates went to Florida for three games at the Eddie Moore Softball Complex last week and returned with three wins, including one over a Wisconsin opponent. They earned a 12-6 win over Antigo and a 2-1 win over Cushing Academy from Massachusetts on March 21, then defeated Florida’s Trinity Lutheran Prep 3-2 on March 22.
Grantsburg erased an early 1-0 deficit to Antigo with a nine-run second inning, overcoming five errors in the win. Ruby Rengo had two hits, three RBI and a run scored; Megan Schafer had two hits, two RBI and two runs scored; Carley Gross had two hits, an RBI and two runs scored while Vanessa Wickstrom had a hit and two RBI.
Whitney Meyers pitched the win, going over four innings and striking out two while allowing four hits. Piper Olson pitched over two innings, allowing four hits and striking out three.
Grantsburg also fell behind 1-0 against Cushing, but needed longer before taking the lead. The Pirates were held scoreless for the first five innings, but scored the game-tying and game-winning runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Renee Tooze and Gross had a hit and an RBI each while Meyers and Abby Rombach scored runs for the Pirates. Olson pitched four innings and allowed just one hit while Meyers went three innings and allowed two hits with four strikeouts.
The game against Trinity Lutheran was scoreless through four innings before Trinity put Grantsburg at a 1-0 deficit for the third time in three games. However, the Pirates answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth and scored the game-winning run in the top of the seven.
Meyers pitched the complete-game win, allowing six hits and striking out seven. Tooze had a hit and a run scored for the Pirates; Gross and Kendall Lebeck scored one run each.
