Onalaska’s season ends with pair of district defeats

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Onalaska’s season came to an abrupt end on Saturday, as the Loggers were shut out twice and eliminated from the 2B District 4 Tournament.

The Loggers (15-10) struggled offensively against Ocosta’s Jessie Gilbert in their first game of the day, but Lisa LIddell held the Wildcats scoreless through five innings and kept them in the game.

The Wildcats finally got to Liddell in the sixth with a two-run double, and that was all Gilbert needed to close out the 2-0 win and send Ocosta to state.

Liddell ended up giving up just three hits and the two runs, and she struck out 14.

Despite the loss, Onalaska still had a chance to play its way into state, but it would need two straight wins to do so.

Things fell apart quickly against Toledo, as the Riverhawks scored nine runs in the first three innings to take control, and they added two more for an 11-0 run-rule victory to move on.

“I just feel sorry for my seniors to go out this way,” Onalaska coach Rich Teitzel said. “You always want to try to make it the best year for your seniors.”

The Loggers are set to lose just two seniors this year, but Teitzel said that the impact those two made on the program will carry on for the returning group.

“Desi Smith, no matter where I put her, she gives me 110 percent,” Teitzel said. “CiCi (Berg) is just an all-around great kid. Coachable, and she also gives me 110 percent in whatever I ask her to do. That’s why I feel so bad for those two individuals.”

Among the returners next spring will be Liddell and seven underclassmen, including two freshman and two eighth-graders

“I got a group that’s young and hungry,” Teitzel said. “We gotta come in with a winning attitude and just put the pieces together.”