OCONTO (NBC 26) — It was a rematch of last year's Division 3 softball sectional final, Mishicot vs. Peshtigo.
Mishicot took down the Bulldogs last year, and their ace would make sure her team would do so again with her bat and arsenal of pitches to win 3-0.
"She's just positive and giving us confidence and we feel we can get the job done (when she's on the mound)," head coach Dawn Shimek said of her ace Kiran Sanford.
It was the performance of a lifetime for the Mishicot junior pitcher Kira Sanford, she pitched a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts and not one ball put in play left the infield. She's been dominant all season with a 0.36 ERA in 98 innings pitched coming into Thursday's game.
"It was a little unexpected, to say the least," Sanford said. "Worked on spins all week, knew they were a good hitting team, but I just shut 'em down. (Kasey Brouchoud) my catcher just caught every ball that she could. She caught the ball where she couldn't even see it, she just knew right where it was going to go."
Sanford had an RBI double in the fourth inning to give her team a 1-0 lead, which was more than enough run support. Mishicot would tack on two more in the 6th.
Mishicot will be heading down to Madison for a chance at a state title for the second year in a row. They were knocked out in the first round last year.
"Sometimes it doesn't feel like you have accomplishments and it's just like that is your accomplishment. Making it (to Madison for state) is the big thing — making it to the championship game is great, but just knowing that you pushed yourself hard enough to make it there is just great," said junior catcher Kasey Brouchoud.
