Ali Van Havermaet pitched a two-hit shutout to lead the Tomah High School softball team to a 9-0 win over Sparta at Gerke Field on Tuesday. But after four innings, she still needed run support, and that is just what she got as the Timberwolves ended Sparta pitcher Abby Kiefer’s shutout with a four-run fifth inning.

Kasie VonHaden led off the fifth inning with a double off the center field fence. An errant throw on a routine groundball to the Sparta shortstop put Jill Martin on base and scored VonHaden for the first run of the game.

Tomah began to pour it on after that. After Kendra Bundy’s sacrifice bunt, Michelle Luebke hit an RBI-single to shallow center. Ashley Kenworthy followed with an RBI-double. Megan Ripp then reached on a single and scored on a double by Brooke VonHaden to give the Timberwolves a 4-0 lead.

With a lead, Van Havermaet continued to blank Sparta, giving up no hits and recording a strikeout over the final two innings. Van Havermaet finished the complete-game shutout with two hits and seven strikeouts.

“I didn’t do anything different,” Van Havermaet said. “My team really backed me up today.”

The Timberwolves added some insurance runs with a five-run sixth inning. Luebke began the scoring with a bunt with runners on the corners and two outs. An errant throw to first allowed Luebke to advance to third base and scored two runs. Four batters later, Brooke VonHaden hit a 2-RBI double along the third base line to give the Timberwolves a 9-0 lead.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak. Tomah’s fifth-inning outburst also snapped a string of 22 straight scoreless innings.

“We have been struggling with clutch hits all year,” coach Ron Brieske said. “We scored in nine of 11 clutch situations today, and that was great. And when Ali (Van Havermaet) throws strikes, she is tough to beat. She has had some control problems, but no walks today. It was beautiful.”

The second game of an unscheduled doubleheader was delayed in the second inning due to lightning with Sparta ahead 2-1. The second game was actually Sparta’s home contest, and the completion will be played Friday in Sparta, beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, the Timberwolves host the Tomah Invitational. In the 10 a.m. semifinals, Tomah will play Cochrane-Fountain City, and West Salem will play Lodi.

The first-place and third-place contests will be played at noon.

The four schools will also compete in a varsity reserve tournament at the D.C. Dade Softball Complex.