MADISON — For the fourth time in the past five years, and sixth time in program history, the Kaukauna Galloping Ghosts are state softball champions.
The second-seeded Ghosts defeated top-seed Kenosha Bradford 1-0 Saturday at Goodman Diamond on the UW-Madison Campus.
It took everything the Ghosts had to pull out the win — crisp defense, consistent pitching and one clutch hit.
The hit came in the fourth inning.
Karly Meredith took a base after being hit in the knee by a pitch. After limping to first and waving off a courtesy runner, Meredith stole second to get into scoring position.
That’s when Lily Boyle doubled up the middle to score Meredith, giving the Ghosts the 1-0 lead that would hold up for the win.
Kaukauna came into the game on a 27-game winning streak — the last remaining undefeated team in the state — having only lost a year ago in the state semifinal game. The team was on a 108-game winning streak until that loss.
This is Kaukauna’s seventh trip to state overall and for the fifth year in a row. They captured the gold trophy six times, including 2010, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and now 2025.
Kaukauna defeated #3 Hamilton 2-0 Thursday in the semifinal to advance to today’s title game.
In the quarterfinal, Kaukauna defeated 7-seed Sun Prairie East 9-1 Wednesday to get into the semifinal.
DIVISION 1
Division 1 Quarterfinals – Wednesday, June 11
Game 1 – #2 Kaukauna (25-0) 9, #7 Sun Prairie East (22-8) 1 – Stats
Game 2 – #3 Hamilton (26-3) 3, #6 Oregon (23-4) 0 – Stats
Game 3 – #1 Kenosha Bradford (28-1) 10, #8 Cedarburg 0 (5) – Stats
Game 4 – #4 DC Everest (26-2) 1, #5 Watertown (21-5-1) 0 (8) – Stats
Division 1 Semifinal – Thursday, June 12
Game 5 – Kaukauna (26-0) 2, Hamilton (26-4) 0 – Stats
Division 1 Semifinal – Friday, June 13
Game 6 – Kenosha Bradford (29-1) 1, D.C. Everest (26-3) 0 – Stats
Division 1 Championship – Saturday, June 14
Game 7 – Kaukauna (27-0) 1, Kenosha Bradford (29-2) 0 – Stats
