MADISON — For the first time in program history, the Fox Valley Lutheran softball team is the WIAA Division 2 state champion.
The Foxes, powered by a potent offense and a stellar performance from University of Minnesota commit star pitcher Madison Babcock in the circle, defeated Pewaukee 9-1 on Saturday.
"This season’s gonna be hard to top," said Fox Valley Lutheran head coach Gunner Pfrang, who is in his second year at the helm of the program.
"It's just the best feeling ever, especially to win it this year for our seniors and give them a great way to go out," said Babcock.
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Tied 1-1, the Foxes broke the game open with a four-run rally in the fourth and another in the sixth inning. Babcock capped the fourth-inning surge with a two-run home run. She narrowly missed a home run in the first inning, settling for an RBI double to give her squad an early 1-0 lead.
"She’s got that big-game energy, right?" Pfrang said. "She’s just always in the big games. She takes care of it in the circle and then she can hit as well, right?"
While she was a force at the plate, Babcock was dominant on the mound. She pitched a complete game, allowing just three hits and one run while striking out 12 Pewaukee batters.
"It is absolutely amazing like standing at first base and she just pitches the ball and it’s a strike almost every single time," junior infielder Lexi Hanson said. "It is like such a feeling knowing that my pitcher is there and like I have her back. It’s absolutely wonderful and then she gets up to hit and she whams the ball, it is amazing."
Hanson provided shined in the title as well, going 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, as the team combined for 12 hits.
"From the first practice we knew, we told ourselves we are setting out, we are going to make it to state, we are going to win state, and we accomplished it tonight and it was amazing, amazing feeling," Hanson said.
