The Homestead girls softball team fell short, 4-3, in its conference matchup against Germantown on Tuesday, April 28. The Highlanders showed up for a dog-fight and that is exactly what the game turned out to be.

With the Highlanders’ hot start to the season, the girls faced a tough conference opponent in the Germantown Warhawks who, earlier in the season, posted dominating wins against Cedarburg.

The game plan for the girls was simple: shut down the offense and stay positive. “After the first inning, when Germantown scored three of its four total total runs, our pitching and fielding were both really solid,” Carly Schulz, senior, said.

Sam Schindler, freshman pitcher, was lights out, allowing only four runs against a very good hitting Germantown team. “This was probably the biggest game (Schindler) pitched in this far, and she really stepped up to the challenge,” Michaela Rusch, senior, said.

While Schindler dealt on the mound, the Highlanders fought hard in the batter’s box. “Germantown’s pitcher had good speed but we were all over it,” Allie Beckers, junior, said. Julia Warshauer, junior, Beckers and Shindler all contributed an RBI.

After digging themselves into a three-run deficit, the Highlanders fought back and tied the game going into the seventh inning. Germantown came out victorious, scoring one run and holding the Highlanders scoreless in the final inning of the game.

Now well into the season, the team looks to rebound from this game but also take the valuable lessons that come along with close games. “I think we will take tonight’s loss and use it as motivation to continue to work hard and improve for our final half of the season,” Rusch said.