Cinderella Season Continues for Indians Softball Team

The Menomonee Falls Indians girls softball team has another chapter to write in its Cinderella story.

The Indians, a team that never cracked the top 20 throughout the entire season, won their first WIAA state tournament game 1-0 in dramatic fashion Thursday against heavily favored Appleton East. Falls (19-4) will take on Westosha Central (20-1) in the state semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday in Madison. 

See the game-ending double play on Fox Sports Net

But the girls made history by winning the first WIAA state softball tournament game in school history. Falls had appeared in the state quarterfinals in 2003 and 2009. Appleton East, on the other hand, had grown accustomed to regular trips to Madison for the tournament.

It was a game that no matter the turnout, one would feel for the losing pitcher. Both Falls’ Kelly Berglund and Appleton East’s Lauren Blasczyck spun gems from  the rubber Thursday in Madison. Berglund struck out eight batters, and gave up only two hits through nine innings. Berglund also had streaks of retiring nine and five batters in a row.

East’s Blasczyck struck out 14, which was two short of a state record. However, it wasn’t enough to put away the young squad from Falls.

The game went into extra innings after seven scoreless frames. In the top of the ninth inning, Falls final broke the tie. Indians right fielder Maddie Eickenmeyer blasted a fly ball, which landed in the gap and rolled to the fence. Eickenmeyer legged out a triple with one just one out.

On the next play, East’s catcher overthrew a check-throw to third base. The ball trickled into the outfield, and Eickenmeyer crossed the plate to take the 1-0 lead. Berglund gave up a single in the bottom of the ninth.

However, the game ended on a shallow infield pop-up. Falls’ shortstop Claire Mohrfeld caught the fly, and threw to first for a game-ending double play.

Editor's Note: Patch followed the quarterfinal matchup by watching the live stream of the game from Fox Sports Wisconsin's Prep Zone webcast.