LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Milwaukee Area Technical College softball's postseason run turned into its most dramatic weekend of the season, as the Stormers clawed out of the loser's bracket, won three straight elimination games and forced a winner‑take‑all championship matchup before finally falling one win short of capturing the Region 4 Quarterfinal Tournament and advancing to the NJCAA Region 4 Midwest District Tournament.

MATC opened the tournament with a 6–1 loss to Madison College in Friday's first round, dropping immediately into the loser's bracket and leaving no margin for error the rest of the weekend. The Stormers responded with their best stretch of softball all season, winning three straight elimination games between Friday and Saturday to climb all the way back and force to the championship round.

MATC's first elimination game set the tone. The Stormers rolled past Oakton 15–2 in five innings to close out Friday, using a fast start and a relentless lineup to stay alive. That win set up a rematch with Madison on Saturday morning, where MATC delivered one of its most complete performances of the year in a 9–5 victory that avenged the opening‑round loss and secured a spot in the championship round against host College of Lake County.

Because Lake County won the winner's bracket, MATC needed to beat the Lancers twice to advance to the Midwest District Tournament. The Stormers nearly pulled it off. In the first championship game, MATC stunned CLC with a 4–3 upset, handing the Lancers their first loss of the tournament and forcing a decisive winner‑take‑all matchup. The Stormers' pitching and defense held strong late, and timely hitting pushed them across the finish line to extend their season for one more game.

The run finally ended in the second championship matchup, where Lake County regrouped and answered with a decisive 11–2 win in six innings to claim the site title and advance to the Midwest District Tournament. MATC's postseason ended one win short of moving on to the final four in Moline, Illinois.

"We knew we had to win three straight in order to advance to the championship round," MATC head coach Joe Kuntner said. "The girls fought very hard in chilly conditions with great individual and team performances. We lost to both teams in the regular season, but to come back and beat Madison and then CLC — who only had three Region 4 losses all season — was a great accomplishment." 

The Stormers closed the year with a resilient showing — four elimination games in a span of two days, three wins and a push to the brink of a regional upset. MATC finished the 2025–26 season with a 24–30 overall record, including a 22-23 record in Region 4.

"I am proud of each and every one of our players," Kuntner said. "They all worked so hard this season." 

Game 1 (Friday): Madison 6, Stormers 1

• MATC stranded six runners and surrendered six unearned runs in a 6–1 loss to Madison in its postseason opener. The game remained scoreless into the sixth before Madison broke through with a six‑run inning fueled by three hits, three walks and two defensive errors. All six runs in the frame were unearned.
• Starter Maiya Tearney turned in one of her strongest outings of the season despite taking the loss. She allowed six unearned runs on four hits and four walks with one strikeout over 5.1 innings. Jordan Hanserd suffered zero runs on two hits over the final 0.2 innings.
• MATC's lone run came in the seventh, when Tearney barreled a two‑out solo homer. A popout ended the game one batter later before the Stormers could do any further damage.
• Ellie Brzek tripled, while Mia Carani, Amira Baldon and Emily Pujanowski each added a single.

Game 2 (Friday): Stormers 15, Oakton 2 (5 innings)

• MATC bounced back in its first elimination game, rolling to a 15–2, five‑inning win over Oakton behind a 17‑hit performance and steady pitching from Brzek and Chloe Lago.
• Oakton opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning, but the Stormers immediately seized control with a six‑run bottom half. MATC scored in all four innings at the plate — six in the first, one in the second, five in the third and three in the fourth — before Lago retired the side in order in the fifth to secure the mercy‑rule victory.
• Brzek earned the win, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and one walk over three innings. Lago handled the final two frames, giving up one hit with no walks and two strikeouts.
• Carani led the offense, going 3‑for‑4 with a two‑run homer, four RBIs and three runs scored. Baldon doubled three times, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Tearney added three hits, including two doubles, along with an RBI and three runs scored.
• Brzek contributed at the plate as well, finishing 2‑for‑2 with a two‑run homer, a walk and three runs scored. Lily Dorado added a single, two RBIs, a walk and a run scored.

Game 3 (Saturday): Stormers 9, Madison 5

• MATC overcame seven defensive errors and rode a complete‑game effort from Tearney to stay alive with a 9–5 win over Madison. Tearney earned the victory, allowing five runs (two earned) on 10 hits with one strikeout and one walk while stranding five runners over the final three innings.
• The Stormers jumped out to a 4–0 lead in the first inning behind a pair of two‑run home runs from Baldon and Dorado. Madison cut the deficit to 4–2 in the second after an errant pickoff throw at first allowed two runs to score.
• Carani opened the third with a solo home run to extend the lead to 5–2. MATC added two more runs in the inning on an RBI groundout from Pujanowski and an RBI single from Emma Roeper. Three errors in the bottom half helped Madison pull within 7–4.
• Carani singled to start the fourth and later scored on an outfield error to push the lead to 8–4. Madison answered with a solo homer in the fifth to make it 8–5, but MATC added insurance in the sixth when back‑to‑back singles by Baldon and Brzek set up an RBI sacrifice bunt from Pujanowski.
• Tearney closed the door from there, stranding runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
• Brzek went 3‑for‑3 with two runs scored. Carani added two hits, including her solo homer, and scored twice. Baldon finished 2‑for‑3 with a home run, two RBIs, a walk and three runs scored, while Dorado added her two‑run shot.

Game 4 (Saturday): Stormers 4, College of Lake County 3

• MATC forced a winner‑take‑all championship game by knocking off top‑seeded College of Lake County 4–3 behind a complete‑game effort from Brzek and a clutch two‑run homer from Carani in the seventh inning.
• With the game tied 2–2 in the top of the seventh, Jayden Moss doubled with one out to put the go‑ahead run in scoring position. Two batters later, Carani delivered the biggest swing of the Stormers' postseason, blasting a two‑out, two‑run home run to left for a 4–2 lead.
• Brzek allowed a two‑out RBI single in the bottom half as CLC pulled within 4–3, but the Stormers ended the game on the bases to secure the upset.
• MATC opened the scoring in the first when Baldon launched a two‑out solo home run. CLC answered in the bottom half after a leadoff walk, a stolen base and an RBI single tied the game. A defensive error later in the inning allowed another run to score.
• Brzek helped her own cause in the fourth, ripping a leadoff double before scoring on a two‑out RBI single from Roeper to tie the game. She later escaped a bases‑loaded jam in the fifth by inducing a comebacker to the circle.
• Brzek earned the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
• Carani and Baldon powered the offense with their home runs. Brzek added two hits and a run scored, while Roeper and Moss each finished with two hits.

Game 5 (Saturday, Championship): College of Lake County 11, Stormers 2

• MATC's Cinderella run finally ran out of steam in the decisive championship game, as the Stormers couldn't overcome a seven‑run fourth inning and fell 11–2 in six innings. All seven of CLC's fourth‑inning runs came with two outs.
• MATC struck first, taking a 1–0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two‑out RBI double from Baldon. CLC answered in the second, tying the game after back‑to‑back errors and then taking a 2–1 lead on an RBI groundout.
• The Stormers pulled even in the third when a CLC error allowed a run to score, but the game turned sharply in the fourth. The Lancers strung together six hits, including a two‑run homer, and were aided by an error and a walk to build a 9–2 lead.
• From the fifth inning on, MATC's offense was limited to just two baserunners: a single by Hallie Knurowski in the fifth and a leadoff walk drawn by Carani in the sixth. CLC added its final two runs on a two‑run homer in the sixth.
• Starter Lago, along with Tearney and Brooke Peters, combined to allow 11 runs, but only two were earned.
• Baldon paced MATC with her RBI double. Knurowski, Tearney and Roeper each added a single, while Carani scored a run and drew two walks.

The unfortunate title loss also marked the final game for MATC's 11‑player sophomore class — Rylyn Paulick, Jayden Moss, Somer Beckman, Nevaeh Folk, Lily Dorado, Zoey Murphy, Emily Pujanowski, Aniesa Neave, Mia Carani and Jordan Hanserd — a group that delivered the best two‑year stretch in program history. The class combined for a 55–55 record over two seasons, including last year's school‑record 32–24 campaign, and leaves behind a standard of toughness and growth that reshaped the trajectory of Stormers softball. 

"This sophomore class had the most wins in MATC softball history and they will all leave a lasting impact on our program," Kuntner said.