Preble falls in extra innings with state bid on the line

PULASKI – This one lived up to the hype. 

With the Green Bay Preble and Kaukauna softball teams coming into their WIAA Division 1 Sectional Final with a combined 51-0 record, something had to give. 

Aided by three Preble errors, Kaukauna made the most of its four hits en route to a 2-1 eight-inning victory in front of a packed Betty Van Lannen Field at Pulaski High School. 

The No. 1-ranked Ghosts (25-0) are making their seventh trip to the state tournament, which includes five state titles. 

Preble, which was attempting to advance to state for the first time in program history, finished the season at 27-1. 

“I’m really proud of our softball team,” Preble Coach Ron Metzler said. “We had a great day hitting against a great pitcher – we really hit the ball. A few of those dropped, and some of those were caught on amazing plays. Our pitching was also great.”

Metzler said Kaukauna deserves a lot of credit. 

“They put pressure on you in a lot of different ways,” he said. “They squeaked out two runs on four hits, but that’s to their credit. I wish them luck at state. This was a great game that went to extra innings, as it should have. Our girls are a talented team, and they know if they had gotten by this game, they likely would have been the top seed at state.”

Kaukauna pitcher Karly Meredith and Preble ace Katie Geydoshek were each stellar on the mound. 

Meredith, a University of Virginia commit, allowed six hits and struck out eight, while Geydoshek allowed four hits while also striking out eight. 

The Hornets had a chance to walk off with the win in the bottom of the seventh inning with the game tied 1-1 and pinch runner Bella Smits on first, but a Camille Konkol liner to the gap in left-center was snared by Kaukauna center fielder Paige Bodenheimer for the second out of the inning. 

Smits was already near second base and most likely would have scored if the ball had found its way to the fence. 

The Ghosts scored an unearned run in the top of the eighth before Preble went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to end the game. 

With the game scoreless heading into the top of the third, Kaukauna plated its first run of the afternoon on an RBI single by Lilly Boyle – scoring Chloe Herzfeldt, who had reached on an error. 

The Hornets scored their lone run in the fifth after two were out on an RBI double from Hannah Von Haden. 

Preble had another golden opportunity to put a run on the board in the third after Konkol led off with a single, but the left fielder, Boyle, made a diving catch on a Von Haden liner.