WCA softball ends season in fourth playoff game

Sam Peterson

Grant County Herald

The West Central Area softball team finished their 2025 regular season after a pair of losses in the Section 6A tournament. The Knights kicked off the playoffs with a home game against Ashby May 22 where the team won 5-0. In the second round, the Knights battled Wheaton/Herman-Norcross on May 23 in Morris and earned an 11-4 win to move to the section quarterfinals. Later that same day, WCA played the top seed Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley and lost 4-2 to fall into the elimination bracket, where WCA took on Swanville May 27 in Browerville and lost 11-10 to end their season.

WCA 5

Ashby 0

The Knights earned the second seed in the Section 6A playoffs and battled the seventh seed Ashby in the first round. WCA dominated on defense, keeping the Arrows off the board for all seven innings and cruising their way to a 5-0 win.

WCA started the game with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. They continued to stretch their lead with one in the second and two more in the third to take a 5-0 advantage. Neither team scored for the final three and a half innings.

Brinley Ulrich had a big night on offense for the Knights, finishing 3 for 3 with a double, a triple, two RBI, a run and a walk. Nora Anderson, Addison Staples and Lily Mahoney all chipped in with two hits apiece.

Ashlyn Lohse pitched the entire game for the Knights and allowed no runs off just one hit and struck out nine.

Ashby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

WCA 2 1 2 0 0 0 X 5

Hitting – Brinley Ulrich 3-3 2B, 3B, R, RBI-2, BB; Nora Anderson 2-4 2B, R; Addison Staples 2-4 RBI; Lily Mahoney 2-2 BB; Ashlyn Lohse 1-1 HR, R, RBI, BB, SB-2; Sophie Sanstead 1-3; Hannah Olson 1-3 R, RBI; Brianna Bennett 0-0 R, SB

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) – Ashlyn Lohse (W) 7-1-0-0-5-9

WCA 11

W/H-N 4

The Knights got warmed up in the first round and came back in the second round to stroll to an 11-4 win over the W/H-N Warriors in Morris.

The Warriors did score first with a run in the top of the first, but WCA came back with three runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. The Knights added two runs in the second and three more in the fourth to make it 8-1. The Warriors did try to get back into the game with three runs in the top of the fifth, but the Knights answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and another in the sixth to make the final score 11-4.

Brinley Ulrich led the team on offense, going 3 for 5 with three doubles and two RBI. Izzy Puchalski also had three hits, finishing 3 for 4 with two runs, an RBI and a steal.

Lohse got the start on the pitching rubber and pitched 5 and two-thirds innings and allowed two earned runs off six hits and struck out five.

W/H-N 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 4

WCA 3 2 0 3 2 1 X 11

Hitting – Brinley Ulrich 3-5 2B-3, RBI-2; Izzy Puchalski 3-4 R-2, RBI, SB; Nora Anderson 2-5 2B, R; Madi Fagre 2-3 R, RBI, BB, SB-3; Sophie Sanstead 2-4 3B, R; Addison Staples 1-2 R, RBI, BB; Ashlyn Lohse 1-4 RBI-2; Lily Mahoney 1-4 RBI; Aidan Porter 1-2 R-2, RBI, BB-2; Brianna Bennett 0-0 SB-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) – Ashlyn Lohse (W) 5.2-6-4-2-3-5; Lily Mahoney 1.1-3-0-0-2-0

CGB 4

WCA 2

The Knights hit their first speed bump of the playoffs when they took on the top-seeded Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Wolverines in the quarterfinals. WCA could only scrape together two runs and CGB took advantage with a 4-2 win to send the Knights into the elimination bracket.

After two scoreless innings, WCA was the team to break the ice with one run in the top of the third to take a lead. CGB did not trail for long, as they scored two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 advantage. WCA did tie the game at 2-2 with another run in the top of the fourth. The Wolverines came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-2 and neither team scored in the final two innings.

Sophie Sanstead finished a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with a run. Nora Anderson went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI; Fagre was 2 for 4 with a double; and Puchalski finished 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Lily Mahoney pitched the entire game and allowed two earned runs off five hits and struck out two.

WCA 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2

CGB 0 0 2 0 2 0 X 4

Hitting – Sophie Sanstead 3-3 R; Nora Anderson 2-4 2B, RBI; Madi Fagre 2-4 2B; Izzy Puchalski 2-4 2B, RBI; Addison Staples 1-3; Ashlyn Lohse 1-3; Aidan Porter 1-3; Brinley Ulrich 0-2 BB-2

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) – Lily Mahoney (L) 6-5-4-2-3-2

Swanville 11

WCA 10

In a win-or-go-home matchup between WCA and Swanville, the tensions were high in a nail-biter of a game. With 21 runs between the two teams, it came down to just one run and the Knights came up short 11-10 to end their 2025 season.

WCA was ready to play from the first pitch and jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two and a half innings. Swanville came back with five runs in the bottom of the third and another run in the fourth to tie the game at 7-7. Swanville then took their first lead with two runs in the fifth and added two more in the sixth to make it 11-7 in the final inning. WCA did score three runs in the top of the seventh and had the tying run at third base, but a harmless groundout ended the season for the Knights with an 11-10 loss.

Lohse finished the game 3 for 4 with a double and two runs. Puchalski was 2 for 3 with a homer, two runs, two RBI and a walk. Madi Fagre went 1 for 2 with a homer, two runs, two RBI and a walk.

Mahoney pitched the entire game for the Knights and allowed six earned runs off 13 hits and struck out three.

WCA 2 2 3 0 0 0 3 10

Swanville 1 0 5 1 2 2 X 11

Hitting – Ashlyn Lohse 3-4 2B, R-2; Brinley Ulrich 2-4 2B, R-2; Izzy Puchalski 2-3 HR, R-2, RBI-2, BB; Lily Mahoney 2-3 2B, RBI-2, BB; Nora Anderson 1-4; Madi Fagre 1-2 HR, R-2, RBI-2, BB; Addison Staples 1-4 RBI; Sophie Sanstead 1-3 RBI-2; Hannah Olson 1-4 RBI; Sophie Hansen 0-0 R

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) – Lily Mahoney (L) 6-13-11-6-3-3