EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Lucas Lendosky, Sr., P/OF, Fennimore baseball
LANCASTER — Senior Lucas Lendosky and the Fennimore baseball team are on a tear. Tuesday afternoon, the lanky lefty put together his best game of an already stellar season. Lendosky struck out 10 batters and allowed just two hits in five scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season. At the plate, Lendosky smashed a three-run homer over the right field fence into a crowd at the nearby middle school track meet in the top of the third-inning to propel Fennimore to a 9–0 victory. Lendosky finished the game 4-for-4 with six RBI.
Lendosky's heroics lifted the high-flying Golden Eagles to their sixth-straight win. Fennimore is now 14–4 overall and 8–2 in the SWAL, 1.5 games back of defending conference champion Cuba City (13–3, 10–1). The Eagles will travel to Cuba City to close out the season next Friday after a road game at Southwestern this Friday, and a doubleheader with Iowa–Grant Tuesday evening.
Coach Brent Sheckler’s Eagles stomped Riverdale 17–7 in five innings Monday night to run its winning streak to five game. Lendosky went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
After Tuesday's win at Lancaster, Fennimore has now won eight of its last nine after a three-game losing streak two weeks ago.
Fennimore bounced back from last Monday’s 15–7 loss at Prairie du Chien with a 5–4 SWAL win at Mineral Point last Tuesday. Lendosky (3–0) struck out 12 batter and allowed just one run in five innings to earn his third win of the season.
Fellow senior Carter Washburn smashed a pair of home runs and drove in four, and Lendosky went 2-for-4 with four RBI in a wild 12–10 non-conference victory at Richland Center last Thursday.
Lasat Saturday, Fennimore beat Westby, 5–3, and previously undefeated Bangor, 10–3, at the Westby triangular.
“The energy and atmosphere this weekend was great in the doubleheader wins at Westby,” said Sheckler. “The dugout was great and everyone was engaged. We are much better team than we were two weeks ago and it couldn’t come at a better time with the playoffs right around the corner.”
Starkey (1–0) pitched four strong innings of relief to earn the win over host Westby, allowing one run on four hits, and Lendosky came on to strike out two in a perfect seventh inning to earn the save. Lendosky stayed hot in the game-two win over Bangor (11–1), going 4-for-5 with two RBI in the win.
Lendosky is 4–0 with one save, a 3.03 ERA, 59 strikeouts and 23 walks in 30 innings pitched. Even more remarkable, he is batting .562 (36-for-64) with a .984 slugging percentage, 12 doubles, five RBI and 43 RBI.
"Lucas continues to be red hot at the plate, but we are also hitting up and down the lineup," said Sheckler. "
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Izzy Bender, Jr., Fennimore girls track and field
Bender won the high jump (5’2”), placed third in the 300 hurdles (52.51) and fifth in the triple jump (31’4.25”), and was part of the winning 4x200 relay to each score a team-high 22.5 team points to lead the Fennimore girls to the team title at last Friday's eight-team River Valley Alumni Invitational.
Kayahna Furrer, Fr., P/1B, Fennimore softball and Carter Washburn, Sr., 1B, Fennimore baseball
The freshman pitcher was shut down for a week from pitching, but that didn't stop her from hitting last week. Furrer went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs in a 7–0 win over Wauzeka–Steuben last Tuesday. Two days later, Furrer went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo homers and junior catcher James went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBI in a 11–4 blowout SWAL win last Thursday at Riverdale. That very same night Fennimore senior Carter Washburn blasted a pair of homers in a wild 12–10 non-conference win over Richland Center. Furrer also went 3-for-4 with another homer in Tuesday's 11–1 win over Darlington. Furrer is batting .462 (31-for-67) with 10 doubles, four home runs and 22 RBI with 19 runs scored in 19 games so far this year.
Gretta Grassel, Jr., P, Boscobel softball
The Boscobel softball team’s bid for a third-consecutive SWAL title got a boost last Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs (13–7, 9–2) took care of their own business with an 8–4 win over Darlington, and also got a helping hand from Iowa–Grant.The Panthers (12–9, 6–6) upset SWAL-leading Cuba City 4–3 Thursday to drop the Cubans (14–4, 9–2) into a first-place tie with Boscobel with three league games remaining for each team. Grassel (8–5) struck out 17 batters in a one-hit shutout to lead Boscobel to a 4–0 non-conference win over Seneca last Friday. Grassel also went 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBI and three runs scored, and came on to pitch the final three innings and struck out nine of the 10 batters she face to record the save in a 12–4 win over River Ridge last Tuesday.
Payton Johnsen, Sr., P, Belmont softball
Johnsen struck out three and scattered seven hits in a complete game shutout, and helped her own cause with a 2–for-2 night at the plate in Monday's key 8–0 SRW win Monday afternoon. Johnsen also struck out four and allowed just one run on three hits in a 5–1 win at Wauzeka–Steuben last Thursday. Johnsen, who missed most of last season an injury after earning first-team All-SRW as a sophomore pitcher, is having a stellar bounce back season this spring. She is 10–1 with a 1.14 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP with 59 strikeouts ins 74 innings pitched.
