EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Madison Kuhl, Sr., Southwestern softball
Southwestern ace Madison Kuhl locked horns with Cuba City ace Emily Wiederholt in the pitchers' circle and each was dialed in as they went head-to-head through nine scoreless innings last Thursday. But it was Kuhl, this week’s Mast Water Technology swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week, and the Wildcats finally broke through for a run in the 10th.
Kuhl (14–2) led off the 10th with a single to halt Wiederholt’s string of 19 consecutive outs going back to the third inning, and she came in to score the game’s only run when Rachel Myers laid down a clutch squeeze bunt. The Cubans, who had two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth but did not score, went down in order in the 10th.
“In the 10th inning, I put some pressure on a couple of girls to respond, and they did just that,” said Southwestern head coach John Costello. “The time had to be perfect, and it was. We caught Cuba City off guard with a great bunt and a great slide into home (by Kuhl).”
Kuhl also earned the complete-game win after yielding just two hits and two walks over 10 shutout innings while striking out 15 batters.
“Our pitching has been stellar, and against Cuba City the intensity was at an all-time high,” added Costello. “Winning a game 1–0 in 10 innings says a lot about your defense, pitching and working together.”
With the win, Kuhl and Southwestern (14–2, 10–1 SWAL) pulled two games clear of Cuba City (11–6, 8–3) with just three games left in conference play.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Tyler Crandall, Sr., Hillsboro baseball
Crandall did it all in Monday’s 16–6 win over Cashton, going 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and five RBIs. He also picked up his fourth win of the season with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief as the Tigers improved to 11–4 overall and 10–2 in the Scenic Bluffs Conference on the season.
Skye Digman, So., Platteville track & field
The sophomore won the shot put (36’10”) and placed second in the discus (113’0”) as last Friday’s Edgerton Tider Invitational to lead the Hillmen girls to a fourth-place finish at the 11-team event. On Tuesday Digman won both the shot put and discus as a Platteville SWC triangular against Prairie du Chien and Lancaster.
Josh Hentrich, jr., Lancaster golf
The junior took medalist honors at last Saturday’s Viroqua Invitational beating a field of 70 golfers with a 5-over par 76. Hentrich also shot a 41 to lead the Arrows at last Tuesday’s River Valley SWC meet at the House on the Rock.
Hentrich, who has led the Arrows all season, is also among the leaders in the individual Southwest Wisconsin Conference standings with one regular season SWC meet and next week’s SWC Championships remaining.
Kaitlyn Kaiser, Sr., Cuba City track & field
Kaiser was a four-event champion, winning the 100 (12.96), 200 (27.18) and 4x100 relay while also setting a new meet record in the long jump (17’8”), to lead the Cuba City girls to the team title at Friday’s River Valley Invitational. Monday she won all three events again and earned a silver medal in the 4x200 as the Cubans finished second as a team at the Darlington Redbird Invitational.
Jacob Wedig, Jr., Belmont track & field
Wedig won the discus (145’2”) and placed second in the shot put (46’8”) to score 18 of the Braves’ 19.5 team points at Friday’s 13-team River Valley Invitational. He then place third in both events at Monday’s Darlington Redbird Invitational.
Whitney Winkers, Sr., Fennimore softball
Winkers hit a grand slam and struck out eight batters in a 15–0 three-inning victory over North Crawford last Saturday at the Fennimore Tournament. They grand slam was Winkers’ 10th career long ball. Fennimore led Prairie du Chien 8–3 in the semifinals, before the Blackhawks rallied to steal the victory. Winkers struck out 10 in the complete-game loss.
