Verona senior Hilary Blomberg had a flair for the dramatic on Senior Night.
Blomberg blasted a two-run home run to center to propel the Verona softball team to a 2-0 win over Middleton on Tuesday, May 16, at Verona Area High School. It proved to be a Senior Night to cherish.
“I was kind of just looking for a missed pitch because it was getting towards the end of the game,” Blomberg said. “I was getting tired and I knew she was getting tired. I was hoping to find one over the plate. I could tell it was a home run when I hit it. It sounded really nice and felt nice.”
Verona (17-6, 15-4 Big Eight) bashed Madison La Follette 30-0 on Thursday, May 18, at VAHS. Verona received a fourth seed in the WIAA Division 1 Middleton sectional. The Wildcats will host 13th-seeded Madison East in a Division 1 regional semifinal on Tuesday, May 23. If Verona wins, the winner of fifth-seeded Middleton and 12th-seeded Onalaska awaits.
With the conference win over the Cardinals, the Wildcats finished second place in the conference with the victory in combination with Madison Memorial’s 3-0 loss to Sun Prairie East. The Spartans, which swept two games from the Wildcats during the regular season, took third (14-5).
“It makes me excited for the postseason,” Blomberg said. “I hope a lot of the games are like this and we can pull it together. It’s nice we can battle up at the plate and in the field to work through a really tough game.”
Verona 30, Madison La Follette 0
It was an offensive onslaught for Verona in a rout of Madison La Follette on May 18, in Madison.
The Wildcats pounded out 20 hits and 30 runs in three at-bats. Verona scored nine runs in the first inning and followed that with a 12-run second. Blomberg went 5-for-5 with a home run, eight RBIs and three runs scored. Senior Addie Blomberg finished 3-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs and four runs scored and two doubles.
Junior Taylor Peterson went 3-for-5 with five runs scored. Senior Ellie Osting went 2-for-3 and knocked in two runs and senior Jordan Starkey went 2-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored. Sophomore Emily Jensen also drove in two runs.
Hilary Blomberg tossed a three-inning no-hitter and struck out eight.
Verona 2, Middleton 0
Both teams struggled hitting with runners in scoring position in the second pitchers’ duel against Middleton this season.
Hilary Blomberg pitched a complete game six-hit shutout to get the win. She struck out 14 and walked two.
“Megan Button is a very good pitcher and moves the ball, changes location a lot and we were a little bit flummoxed,” Verona coach Todd Anderson said. “We were getting the ball in play. Everyone’s at-bats are getting better. Things just weren’t falling for us. The pitchers on both sides did their jobs and got out of trouble.”
Middleton went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine on base. The Cardinals twice had two runners on and one out or less in the inning.
With two runners on and one out in the first inning, Blomberg struck out Middleton’s Megan Button. She then got freshman Annika Jafferis to ground out to first baseman Jensen to end the scoring threat. The Cardinals had another golden scoring opportunity in the fourth after junior Mackenzie Zimmerman led off with a double to right. Button popped up a bunt in front of the plate. Osting made a diving attempt to make the catch, but it dropped in for an infield single.
In the fifth, Middleton freshman Hailey Stroede and junior McKenzie Pertzborn both singled with two outs. Blomberg then got Zimmerman to pop out to Addie Blomberg at shortstop.
“In that time I think we were just trying to pitch around her and trying to get her to swing at a not so good pitch,” Blomberg said of Zimmerman. “I had to be really careful with her because she is one of their best hitters and with a runner in scoring position I had to be extra careful.”
Blomberg worked out of the jam by striking out three straight.
Button was equally as tough on the Wildcats. She limited Verona to 1-for-13 hitting with runners in scoring position and left five on base.
That’s until the sixth when the Wildcats had four of their nine hits. Peterson bunted for a single for the second time in the game leading off the sixth. That set up Blomberg’s go-ahead home run. Peterson went 2-for-3 with one run scored. Addie Blomberg and Osting both finished 2-for-3 at the plate.
