Sports Wrapups: June 1

Oak Creek softball

After an up-and-down week to end the regular season, the Knights have began postseason play.

Oak Creek (15-7), seeded third in the Greenfield Sectional, faced 14th-seeded Milwaukee Pulaski/Arts in the first round of regionals on Tuesday after press deadline. The winner will square off against the Milwaukee Bradley Tech /Pius XI winner today at the highest remaining seed.

Following two blowout losses to Muskego, which earned the second seed in the Greenfield Sectional, on May 24, Oak Creak won three games convincingly. The Knights finished a suspended game from earlier in the season against Racine Case, 14-8, and dominated Racine Park last Thursday.

Behind the pitching efforts of Alyssa Sirocchi, the Knights shut out the Panthers, 4-0, in Game 1. The senior pitched a one-hit complete game while striking out seven without issuing a walk. At the plate, she helped her cause by going 2-for-4.

The Knights crushed Park, 16-1, to complete the sweep. After Oak Creek scored one in the first, it scored eight in the second, four in the third and three in the fifth before the game was called due to the 10-run rule.

After stumbling against Muskego, coach Nathan Vance is hoping to build on his team's last three victories, though he would have liked to get a better seed.

"Had we come to play (against Muskego), we could have argued for the first seed, considering we beat Greenfield head-to-head," Vance said. "When you get (beat) like that, no other variables can prevent the floodgates from opening. Hopefully, we'll have a chance at redemption if we're lucky enough to make sectionals.

"Greenfield and Muskego rightfully earned the (top two) seeds, but like I told the girls, from now on it's one and done. It's put up or shut up time. We just hope we get lucky enough to have a chance at redemption."

Franklin softball

The Sabers (15-9) earned the fifth seed in the Greenfield Sectional after putting on a dominating display of offense in their final game of the regular season.

Franklin, who outlasted Greendale Martin Luther, 17-13, last week in extra innings, opened with a regional game on Tuesday (after press deadline) against 12th-seeded Milwaukee Bay View.

The winner of that contest faces either 13th-seeded Milwaukee South or fourth-seeded South Milwaukee today in the regional final at the highest remaining team.

Against Martin Luther, the Sabers busted out for eight runs in the first inning. And they needed every last run, because the Spartans came back to score four in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 13.

However, in the eighth, Franklin tacked on four more and held Martin Luther scoreless to end the game.

Junior Jayme Love, the winning pitcher, led the Sabers at the plate going 3-for-5. Senior infielder Megan Matty also paced the team at 3-for-4.

Greendale soccer

The Panthers can only hope their offense gets hot before it's too late.

Greendale, seeded eighth in the Beaver Dam 16-team Sectional, opens regional play against ninth-seeded Madison East at 7 p.m. today at home. The winner of that contest will likely face top-seeded Madison La Follette in the regional final Saturday.

In their last five games, the Panthers (8-12-1, 8-3 Woodland) are 1-4-1 and have only scored a combined two goals in those six contests. Before last Friday's 1-0 win over New Berlin West, they were shut out in their last four games, including a pair of 2-0 home losses to Madison Memorial and Wauwatosa East last week.

Franklin soccer

The Sabers, seeded seventh in the Whitefish Bay Sectional, begin regionals with a first-round game at 10th-seeded Greenfield at 4:30 p.m. today. The winner of today's contest will likely face second-seeded Whitefish Bay on Saturday in the regional final.

Franklin baseball

After opening their conference season with a split against Marquette last weekend, the Sabers continued Greater Metro play this week against Menomonee Falls. The Sabers hosted the Indians on Wednesday and travel to Falls at 5:30 p.m. today.

The Sabers, 5-1 overall and 1-1 in conference, are coming off a 4-1 victory over the Hilltoppers on Saturday. While they fell behind 1-0, Franklin scored two runs in the fourth on RBI from seniors Adam Kaniewski and Matt Sklander. The Sabers tacked on two more after junior Evan Walton's two-run triple in the seventh.

While the Sabers limited the Hilltoppers to one run, it wasn't smooth sailing the entire game. Junior Marcus Schlemm, who relieved freshman Evan Kruczynski, worked out of a one-out bases loaded jam in the fifth inning. Schlemm, who struck out five in 2 2/3 innings, recorded the save.

One day earlier, Marquette upended Franklin, 1-0, in a battle of all-conference pitchers: Marquette's Colin Weyer and senior Brandon Wiedenfeld.

"It was an old fashioned pitchers duel," Sabers coach Jim Hughes said.

Marquette's only run came on an infield dribbler to shortstop in the third inning. The Hilltoppers and Sabers each finished with three hits. However, Franklin stranded 10 runners.

Oak Creek baseball

Knights coach Scott Holler has a message for his players if they plan on winning a conference title this summer.

"I think the guys learned they're going to have to turn up the intensity from the outset if they want to compete night in and night out in the GMC," Holler said.

This is after Holler's team piled up seven errors in the team's two losses to Sussex Hamilton last Friday in a doubleheader. The Knights can erase these games from their memory with wins over Wauwatosa East this week. After facing East at home Wednesday, the Knights travel to Breitlow Field at 5:30 p.m. today. They also compete against Arrowhead at 5:30 p.m. Friday and host Pius XI High School at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Oak Creek (3-2) suffered three of those seven errors in the first inning of Game 1, losing 4-3. Senior righthander Tyler Zemla kept the Knights in the game by only giving up four hits and two walks in six innings. Junior Josh Jesko went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. But Oak Creek stranded the bases loaded in the fifth and left two more on in the sixth. Sussex won the game in the bottom of the seventh.

The Knights lost the nightcap, 5-2, and struck out 14 times. Jesko, however, did hit his second home run of the day in the first inning.

"I was disappointed with our bats in the second game, as we did not put the ball in play nearly enough to compete," Holler said. "The fact we only lost 4-3 and 5-2 after playing so poorly was a testament to how hard our pitchers were battling out there."

- David Cotey and Christopher Kuhagen