MOUNT HOREB — West Salem High School junior Josie Brudos stepped into the circle and wasn’t going to back down against the state’s sixth-ranked team on its home field in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal on Monday.
Maybe that’s because she’s been in the exact same position twice before, and maybe it was the confidence in the Panthers’ significant winning streak.
Either way, Brudos was dominant, the second-seeded Panthers put together a number of clutch hits, and they played defense just the way coach Brian Babiash likes it in a 6-0 victory over top-seeded Mount Horeb.
“She really came to play tonight,” Babiash said of Brudos during a very happy bus ride home. “She held them to four hits, and nobody hit the ball hard. There was a bloop single to left, a bloop to right and a couple up the middle.
“She kept them so off balance.”
West Salem (20-4) won its 13th game in a row, and Brudos posted her seventh shutout. The Winona State commit struck out nine batters and didn’t walk any to help the Panthers earn a home sectional final against either second-ranked Jefferson (22-5) or seventh-ranked Brodhead (19-4) at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Eagles and Cardinals play Tuesday to determine West Salem’s opponent.
West Salem, which beat the Vikings in a sectional semifinal two years ago and lost to them in last year’s sectional semifinal, scored four runs in the first three innings and never looked back in this matchup.
“We thought all along that if we could get a lead, we could take them out of what they like to do with the small ball and speed,” Babiash said. “We did a great job of that and it worked. We also played good defense against what they like to do, too.”
Third baseman Dylynn Bayer, he added, was aggressive and effective.
“They still put some bunts down, and the way she approached them was great,” Babiash said. “They’d put it down, and she’d make a great play.
“She also got robbed on a rocket she hit to right-center. I thought it was gone, and I still don’t know how the right fielder got there and caught it. She tattooed that one.”
The timely hitting began early in the form of senior first baseman Makena Ihle.
Maclaine Heilman led off the game with a single and moved to second n a sacrifice bunt by Makinlee Marshall. Brudos was hit by a pitch before Megan Johnson was retired for the second out.
That brought up Ihle, who sent an 0-2 pitch to left field for a two-run double.
“It’s never say never, especially with Makena,” Babiash said. “That’s been her deal.
“It seems like most of her hits this year have come with two strikes, and that double was another example.”
Marshall hit a two-out RBI single in the second inning, and Bayer hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the third.
The Panthers added a couple of insurance runs in the seventh after Brudos doubled and Johnson singled. Both scored on a wild pitch for the 6-0 advantage that held up.
“It was crazy,” Babiash said of the play. “Megan did a great job and never stopped when coming around from second.”
West Salem — trying to qualify for its first state tournament — finished with seven hits, and Ihle had two of them. She also recorded West Salem’s only stolen base.
