Madison College Wolfpack

LAKE FOREST, ILL. - After a promising start to the 2026 postseason, the Madison College softball team was eliminated from the Region 4 Quarterfinal Tournament with back-to-back losses on Friday and Saturday. The WolfPack, seeded seventh in the region, won their quarterfinal tournament opener over (10) Milwaukee Area Technical College by a 6-1 final before falling to host and second-seeded College of Lake County 3-0. Madison College returned on Saturday for an elimination game against the Stormers and lost 9-5 to conclude their season with a 19-18 record.

Game #1 (Friday): (7) Madison College 6, (10) Milwaukee Area Technical College 1

The matchup of in-state rivals was a slow-burning pitchers' duel as innings were breezing by and the arms on the mound were cooking in dominant fashion. Sophomore Lauryn Etienne (10-4) got the start for the WolfPack and the righthander from Oregon, Wisconsin, limited the Stormers to a run on five hits and a walk over seven complete innings. She also tallied three strikeouts. After giving up a couple of hits in the first inning, Etienne retired 11 batters in a row before a two-out triple in the fourth. She also stranded two runners in the fifth and another in the sixth before the WolfPack offense kicked into gear.

Two walks and a single loaded the bases with one out, and back-to-back Milwaukee Tech errors allowed Sadie Svendsen and Cassie Coffey to score for a 2-0 lead. Freshman first baseman Addie Fritts drew a walk with the bases still loaded, scoring  Kelsey Meverden. Consecutive singles by sophomores Bailey Mester and Shelby Brooks resulted in two more runs as Cathryn Zegadlo and Haleigh Benisch each touched home. A sacrifice fly by Svenden as the WolfPack batted around capped the scoring with pinch runner Jeneya Marquez Perez making it 6-0.

The Stormers spoiled Etienne's attempt at a shutout with a two-out, solo home run in the top of the seventh.

Six different players registered a hit for the WolfPack. Benisch, a native of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, had a hit, a walk, scored a run, and drove in another. Brooks and Mester each had a hit and a RBI, while Coffey and Meverden posted a hit and a run scored. Two players, Svendsen and Zegadlo, tallied a run driven in and a run scored without getting a hit.

Game #2 (Friday): (2) College of Lake County 3, (7) Madison College 0

In need of one win to reach the quarterfinal tournament championship, the WolfPack squared off with the College of Lake County (39-9), and again found themselves in a defensively ballgame. The Lancers were able to score one run each in the second, fourth, and sixth innings against sophomore Lauryn Etienne. However, it was her counterpart for CLC that got the best of Etienne with a pair of solo home runs to make it 2-0. An error and a double in the bottom of the sixth added an insurance run for Lake County.

Madison College did not register a hit until the fourth inning when Sadie Svendsen led off with a single. Shelby Brooks had the team's other base knock as she grounded a ball through the left side in the sixth. 

Both teams struggled to get on base in the first meeting this season between the two programs. The College of Lake County had a dozen base runners to just three for the WolfPack. 

Etienne (10-5) pitched all six innings and allowed five hits, two earned runs of the three allowed, walked two, struck out eight. 

The College of Lake County now leads the all-time series by a narrow 9-8 margin.

Game #3 (Saturday): (10) Milwaukee Area Technical College 9, (7) Madison College 5

Still in need of a win to reach the final, Madison College (19-18) returned Saturday for an elimination game - and rematch - with Milwaukee Area Technical College (23-29). Freshman Sophie Golembiewski got the start; however, the Stormers came out of the gates swinging. A lead off walk set up a two-run home run, and three batters later, with another runner aboard following a single, MATC-Milwaukee smashed a second two-run homer for an early 4-0 lead in the opening half inning.

The WolfPack cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out for freshman shortstop Sadie Svendsen, whose fielder's choice resulted in both Bailey Mester and Shelby Brooks scoring to make it 4-2 after two innings.

The Stormers answered quickly, leading the third inning off with a solo home run. A sacrifice bunt and a bunt single later in the inning each resulted in another run scored to push the differential to 7-2. 

Freshman Kelsey Meverden led the bottom half of the frame off with a single, and first year second baseman Cathryn Zegadlo reached on an error. Haleigh Benisch followed with a ground ball, resulting in an error and a run as Meverden touched home. A fielder's choice off the bat of Mester plated Zegadlo to make it a 7-4 contest. Unfortunately, the Pack stranded two runners when the inning ended. 

The Stormers tacked on another run in the fourth thanks to two singles sandwiched around a wild pitch. In the fifth, Madison College used some long ball to keep the game within reach as Zegadlo kicked the bottom of the fifth inning off with a solo home run. It was her team-leading third of the season. The blast to center seemed to spark the WolfPack offense, which used base hits by Addie Fritts and Mester, as well as a hit by pitch of pinch hitter Macie Studzinski to load the bases with two outs. Freshman Cassie Coffey was unable to take advantage as she grounded out to the pitcher to end the threat. 

Milwaukee Tech got their ninth and final run of the day after a pair of singles and a bunt in the sixth. The WolfPack left one runner aboard in the sixth and two in the seventh before their season came to a close.

Brooks, a Plover, Wisconsin, native, finished the game 3 for 5 with a run scored as four players posted multiple hits. Mester was 2 for 4 with a run batted in and a run scored, while Meverden had two hits and scored once. Coffey also had a pair of base hits. Zegadlo, a native of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, led the team with two runs scored as part of a 1 for 4 day with one RBI. 

Golembiewski (2-7) worked just two-thirds of an inning and allowed four runs on three hits and a walk. She did register a strikeout before fellow freshman Gretta Lewis took over for two innings, and was tagged for three runs on three hits and three walks. Lauryn Etienne finished the final 4.1 innings and was tagged for two runs on seven hits, while fanning two.

The College of Lake County defeated Milwaukee Tech 11-2 to advance to the Region 4 Tournament in Moline, Illinois, from May 8-9. The Lancers will be joined by (1) Rock Valley College, (3) Black Hawk College, and (4) Bryant & Stratton College to play for a berth in the NJCAA Division II Softball Championships in Spartanburg, South Carolina, from May 19-24.

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