Entering this past weekend’s Iowa–Grant Tournament I–G senior first baseman Josi Olson had never hit a home run.
Saturday afternoon Olson found magic in her bat belting not one, but three round-tripper in a pair of Panther wins as Iowa-Grant won its own tournament.
     In the Panthers 11–0 semifinal victory over Shullsburg/Benton, Olson went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. She belted a solo shot in the third inning for her first career home run.
     Senior shortstop Sammie Simon went 2-for-3 with an RBI double.
     While Olson and Simon supplied the offense in the first game, senior catcher Alyssa Larsen supplied the defense. Larsen picked off four base runners in the game, two in the first inning, one in the third and one in the fourth, killing Shullsburg/Benton rallies before they had a chance to start. With Larsen gunning down runners on the base paths and holding others on with the threat of her arm, the Zephyr-Miners never had a runner reach third base.
     “She had a great day behind the plate and was able to show off her arm a little bit,” explained Iowa-Grant head coach Denna Fulton. “In our conference everyone know what she can do and they never challenge her.” 
     In the championship Olson slugged two more homers and drove in four runs to lead the Panthers to a 7–2 come-from-behind victory over Seneca.
     The Indians silenced the Panthers bats for four innings and held a 2–0 advantage, but Olson’s second homer of the day broke up the shutout in the top of the fifth inning and lit a fire under her teammates.
     The Panthers tied the game on a solo homer by Larsen in the top of the sixth inning and built a 4–2 with two more runs later in the inning.
     Olson added the final blow, a three-run blast in the top of the seventh inning to provide the final margin of victory.
     “When she hits the ball she hits the ball a hard,” said Fulton. “She sometimes has trouble keeping the ball fair or  popping up on the infield. But she has a great swing. It all has to do with her timing. Saturday she faced three different pitchers and hit homers of each one of them. It really was a remarkable day.”
innings and held a 2–0 advantage, but Olson’s second homer of the day broke up the shutout in the top of the fifth inning and lit a fire under her teammates.
     The Panthers tied the game on a solo homer by Larsen in the top of the sixth inning and built a 4–2 with two more runs later in the inning.
     Olson added the final blow, a three-run blast in the top of the seventh inning to provide the final margin of victory.
     “When she hits the ball she hits the ball a hard,” said Fulton. “She sometimes has trouble keeping the ball fair or  popping up on the infield. But she has a great swing. It all has to do with her timing.
     “Saturday she faced three different pitchers and hit homers of each one of them. It really was a remarkable day.”
Monday night the Panthers suffered a 5–4 conference loss against visiting Boscobel.
     I–G led 5-1 through three innings of played, but the Bulldogs scored four unanswered runs.
     The Panthers fell to 9–8 overall and 6–6 in the SWAL.
     Last Thursday host Mineral Point scored eight runs in the second inning and cruised to an easy 10–1 victory over Iowa–Grant.

Mineral Point 10, Iowa–Grant 1
(from Thursday, May 10 @ Iowa-Grant)
Iowa-Grant      000    100     0    —    1   2  3
Mineral Point   081    001    x    —  10 15  1
Leading hitters — MP: Wood 3x5, Walley 2x5, Fonienen 2x2. W — Wood (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 SO, 3 BB). L — Tori Leix (6–6, 4 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB).

Iowa–Grant Tournament
(from Saturday, May 12 @ Iowa-Grant)
Championship Game — Iowa–Grant 7, Seneca 2
Third-place Game – Platteville 8, Benton/Shullsburg 7
Semifinals – Seneca 7, Platteville 5
Iowa–Grant 11, Benton/Shullsburg 0

Championship Game
Iowa–Grant 7, Seneca 2
Iowa-Grant   000    013    3    —  7   8  2
Seneca          010    100    0    —   2   7  2
Leading hitters — IG: Alyssa Larsen 2x4, Taylor Holder 2x3, Josi Olson 2x3; S: Redman 2x3, Brockway 2x3. 2B – S: Brockway. HR - IG: A. Larsen, J. Olson 2. W — Tori Leix (7–6, 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 8 SO, 2 BB). L — Unavailable (4 SO, 7 BB).

Consolation Game
Platteville 8, Shullsburg/Benton 7
Platteville                 100    401     2    —   8   8  3
Shullsburg/Benton    200    211    1     —   7   8  1
Leading hitters — P: Katie Klar 2x4, Sadie Holmes 2x3; B/S: Malone 2x4, Blackburn 2x4. 2B — P: Amy Place, Brittany Edge. HR — P: Sadie Holmes. W - Sadie Holmes (1–0, 7 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 7 SO, 8 BB). L – Nies (3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 SO, 3 BB).

Iowa–Grant 11, Benton/Shullsburg 0
Iowa-Grant         210    53       —    11   6  1
Benton/Shulls.    000    00       —     0   5  3
Leading hitters — IG: Sammie Simon 2x3, Josi Olson 2x3. 2B – IG: Simon; B/S: Brant. HR - IG: J. Olson. W — Brea Stanton (2–1, 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 SO, 0 BB). L — Brant.

Seneca 7, Platteville 5
Seneca        300    000    103    —   7   8  5
Platteville    000    001    301   —   5   8  3
Leading hitters — S: T. Redman 2x3, Brockway 4x5; P: Katie Klar 2x4. 2B — S: T. Redman, Brockman; P: Klar. W - Kramer (2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 SO, 2 BB). L – Megan Schlueter (8–7, 9 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 12 SO, 7 BB).

Boscobel 5, Iowa–Grant 4
(from Monday, May 14 @ Iowa-Grant)
Boscobel       100    130     0     —   5   8  4
Iowa-Grant    031    000     0    —   4   6  2
Leading hitters — B: Wilcons 2x3, Smith 3x3; IG: Alyssa Larsen 2x3. 2B – IG: Larsen, Josi Olson.  W — Wunnicke (7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 SO, 3 BB). L — Tori Leix (7–7, 7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB).