Kaukauna Softball
Kaukauna proved its top ranking in the state by rising above some tough competition at Saturday's Jaguar Invitational in Ashwaubenon, notching three more victories and earning this week's Splash of the Week.
The Galloping Ghosts, defending WIAA Division 1 state champions and currently the No. 1 team in the state with a perfect 8-0 mark on the season, traveled just minutes northward to face its toughest tournament field yet this season. Kaukauna opened the Jaguar Invite with an 11-1, 6-inning trouncing of Escanaba, Mich. in which the Ghosts cracked out 16 hits, let by Mackenzie Freimuth and Maria Van Abel's respective 3-for-4 performances.
The semifinal round pitted Kaukauna against archrival and No. 2-ranked Stevens Point in a great pitchers' duel. It was the Ghosts' Lauren Danner who was better that afternoon, as the senior Green Bay recruit gave up just two hits against the Panthers while her squad's offense mustered five hits and eventually pushed the game-winning run across in the bottom of the sixth to eke out the 1-0 victory.
The championship of the tournament featured another stellar hurler in the circle, but Kaukauna scored a run in the first against Chippewa Falls ace Kendra Bowe. The Ghosts added one in the third and another in the sixth, pulling out a 3-1 victory over the third-ranked Cardinals to secure the tournament championship.
Successful weekend aside, Kaukauna has also made news on a national scale, cracking the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association High School rankings at No. 13 in its poll released on April 28. The Ghosts are one of just three nation-wide teams from the Midwestern part of the country (Hudsonville, Mich., Poland Seminary, Ohio and Elk Grove, Ill. ranked No. 5, 16 and 20 respectively) in a listing dominated by schools from much warmer states.
Kaukauna, along with many Fox Valley area teams, has a very busy slate this week catching up on its regular season schedule. Monday the Ghosts knocked off Kimberly 10-0, will host Neenah Tuesday, travel to Appleton East Thursday, then host Appleton North in a double-header Friday and Oshkosh North on Saturday. That is, of course, if weather permits.
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