Strong Start Enough For Wawasee To Stay Ahead Of Manchester
April 15, 2023 at 12:22 a.m.
Strong Start Enough For Wawasee To Stay Ahead Of Manchester
By Connor McCann-
The Warriors wasted no time making their presence felt in opposing territory. The first seven Wawasee hitters reached base in the top of the first, leading to an inning in which the team scored six runs and sent eleven batters to the plate. The early-inning onslaught was highlighted by two-RBI singles from Arisai Garcia and Iliana Burelison. Manchester starter Olivia Neal was taken out of the game after recording just one out.
“We knew Manchester has some great hitters so I told our players we need to jump on them early, because we’ve struggled with slow starts this year,” Wawasee head coach Chloe McRobbie said after the win. “Hopefully we can continue to start strong and stay that way for all seven innings.”
The Lady Squires would make some noise of their own in the bottom of the first. After a one-out single from shortstop Paxton Baker, second baseman Hadley West put together an impressive at bat, fouling off four pitches with two strikes before taking one the opposite way for a two-run home run. Allen would bounce back from her mistake on the mound, striking out the next two Squires to end the inning.
The next few frames flew by as pitchers for both sides began to take over the game. Manchester freshman Samantha Shock would make a relief appearance in the second inning and pitched two scoreless frames, allowing just one baserunner in the process. After striking out three hitters in the first, Allen would punch out at least two hitters in each of the next five innings. Wawasee’s all-time leader in strikeouts would finish with 15 in seven innings of work, picking up the win and allowing just two earned runs.
“She gets stronger by the day, getting more consistent,” McRobbie said. “She’s been a dominant force for us this season, more so than she’s ever been but she’s earned it. She works so hard in the offseason to be ready for these moments.”
With the score still 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Squires got an opportunity to get back into the game and took advantage. A leadoff single from West that was followed by a few errors made by Wawasee defenders allowed the Squires to get some offense going. An RBI single from McKelvey Espeset would be the big play in an inning that saw Manchester score three runs and shrink the Wawasee advantage down to one.
That would be as close as the Lady Squires would get. Allen would lead off the fifth inning with a double and was brought home two batters later on an RBI groundout from Brooke Catron. Garcia would add two more RBIs to her total with her second double of the day later in the inning. Catron would add on to her RBI total as the leadoff hitter in the seventh with a solo home run.
“When the going gets tough you have the opportunity to show how tough you are,” McRobbie said. “It’s easy to be cheerful and be positive when you’re winning but when you get the opportunity to show what you’ve got, show how strong you are and I feel like they incorporated that really well tonight.”
Both teams are in action Saturday morning, with Wawasee playing host to Triton and Manchester traveling to play Fremont. Both games are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
The Warriors wasted no time making their presence felt in opposing territory. The first seven Wawasee hitters reached base in the top of the first, leading to an inning in which the team scored six runs and sent eleven batters to the plate. The early-inning onslaught was highlighted by two-RBI singles from Arisai Garcia and Iliana Burelison. Manchester starter Olivia Neal was taken out of the game after recording just one out.
“We knew Manchester has some great hitters so I told our players we need to jump on them early, because we’ve struggled with slow starts this year,” Wawasee head coach Chloe McRobbie said after the win. “Hopefully we can continue to start strong and stay that way for all seven innings.”
The Lady Squires would make some noise of their own in the bottom of the first. After a one-out single from shortstop Paxton Baker, second baseman Hadley West put together an impressive at bat, fouling off four pitches with two strikes before taking one the opposite way for a two-run home run. Allen would bounce back from her mistake on the mound, striking out the next two Squires to end the inning.
The next few frames flew by as pitchers for both sides began to take over the game. Manchester freshman Samantha Shock would make a relief appearance in the second inning and pitched two scoreless frames, allowing just one baserunner in the process. After striking out three hitters in the first, Allen would punch out at least two hitters in each of the next five innings. Wawasee’s all-time leader in strikeouts would finish with 15 in seven innings of work, picking up the win and allowing just two earned runs.
“She gets stronger by the day, getting more consistent,” McRobbie said. “She’s been a dominant force for us this season, more so than she’s ever been but she’s earned it. She works so hard in the offseason to be ready for these moments.”
With the score still 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Squires got an opportunity to get back into the game and took advantage. A leadoff single from West that was followed by a few errors made by Wawasee defenders allowed the Squires to get some offense going. An RBI single from McKelvey Espeset would be the big play in an inning that saw Manchester score three runs and shrink the Wawasee advantage down to one.
That would be as close as the Lady Squires would get. Allen would lead off the fifth inning with a double and was brought home two batters later on an RBI groundout from Brooke Catron. Garcia would add two more RBIs to her total with her second double of the day later in the inning. Catron would add on to her RBI total as the leadoff hitter in the seventh with a solo home run.
“When the going gets tough you have the opportunity to show how tough you are,” McRobbie said. “It’s easy to be cheerful and be positive when you’re winning but when you get the opportunity to show what you’ve got, show how strong you are and I feel like they incorporated that really well tonight.”
Both teams are in action Saturday morning, with Wawasee playing host to Triton and Manchester traveling to play Fremont. Both games are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
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