MADISON — The Freedom Irish are back-to-back state champions after defeating New London 8-0 Saturday in the WIAA Division 2 state softball title game in Madison.
After scoring one run in the second inning, the Irish busted the game open with four more in the fourth.
Rylie Murphy, Kaia McVay and Rachel Koss each had two hits.
Koss and Lauren Scheibe both batted in two runs.
A year ago, Freedom also entered the tournament as the #2 seed and went on to win the title with a 5-4 victory over top-seeded Jefferson in the final.
This is the program’s fourth trip to state. The Irish’s first two appearances came back-to-back in Class B in 1986 and 1987, which resulted in losses in the semifinals.
Freedom made it back to the championship game after outlasting Beloit Turner 2-1 in Friday’s semifinal.