Posted: May 28, 2009

The Greenfield softball team is two wins away from the state tournament.

Not bad for a squad many thought had a down year ahead.

The second-seeded Hustlin' Hawks improved to 19-6 with a 6-1 regional final win over South Milwaukee at Konkel Park on May 28. They will play sixth-seeded Waterford, a team Miller pegged as a dark horse before the tournament began, in a sectional semifinal at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 4, at Konkel.

The sectional final is 3 p.m. that day, also at Konkel. Top-seeded Muskego and fifth-seeded Pius XI will play in the other semifinal.

"This team, to be quite honest, it has some very talented players, but overall, it's not one of the most talented teams I've had," Greenfield coach Jack Miller said. "But they've come together like a family should. They just get along and it transfers over on the field – making plays, knowing each others' nuances, having a good feel for each other."

The Hawks lost ace pitcher Ashley Kowalewski, among others, to graduation last spring and early this season reshuffled the infield after starting out 3-3. Led by four-year starters Stacey Butts and Sarah Fisher, both of whom started as freshmen the last time the Hawks made it to state in 2006, Greenfield has won 16 of its last 19 games.

"We weren't picked to do much in the preseason," Miller said. "We lost some key, key players. We had some holes, but they've really improved. The marginal or average players have really done a good job of progressing. We make no bones about it; we don't scare probably anybody, but we seem to find a way."

The Hawks did just that against South Milwaukee in the regional.

Butts, the 2008 NOW All-Suburban Player of the Year, had an RBI single in the Hawks' three-run first inning and a two-run triple in the third. Sophomore Andrea Solberg belted a two-run double in the first and a booming solo home run in the fifth.

The fast start was all Greenfield pitcher Shannon Butts needed. She struck out eight batters, allowed seven hits and walked none. The lone run she gave up came on Deanna Gilane's RBI single in the top of the third inning that trimmed the Hawks' lead to 3-1.

"We just hit it a lot right at people, and we needed to show more discipline at the plate," said South Milwaukee coach Heather Hanson said, whose team finished 8-12.

Fisher chased down a handful of fly balls in center field and Stacey Butts, a rare left-handed shortstop, who switched from first base early in the season, made a number of plays at her position, including a leaping stab of a line drive that required every bit of her 6-foot-2-inch frame.

"This was a scary game," Miller said. "That team was plenty good enough to beat us. Our pitcher does a great job of mixing things up, but she's not overpowering. We have to field the ball. They hit some shots; fortunately for us, a number of them were right at people, and when they weren't we made most of the plays."

 

David Cotey can be reached at dcotey@cninow.com or (262) 446-6604.