Squire Softball Team Hands Whitko Second Loss
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - Two young up-and-coming pitchers were the showcase in Wednesday's Three Rivers Conference softball battle between Whitko and host Manchester.
Though it wasn't a hitting masterpiece, the host Squires were able to cut and paste together a four-run third inning to grab a 4-1 conference win and hand the Wildcats just their second loss of the season.
Whitko freshman Jamie Westness toed the rubber for the 16-win Wildcats and was dominant early. Using a nice mixture of fastballs and off-speed pitches, Westness struck out four straight batters at one point.
Manchester's Jarra Renz, Westness' pitching counterpart, wasn't as dominant stuff-wise, but did keep Whitko off-balance all night.
Renz allowed just one run and one hit, with both coming in the top of the first inning.
After getting leadoff hitter Leah Winger to ground out to third baseman Kala McKenzie, the Wildcats' Hannah VanHoozen took a Renz pitch and looped the ball down the first-base line.
VanHoozen motored into third base with a triple. Beth VanHoozen then tapped a ball to Manchester second baseman Casey Thomas, which allowed sister Hannah to score.
With the lead in hand, Westness and Co. looked poised for a shutout until the third inning.
Then boom went the dynamite.
Westness walked seventh-place hitter Megan Hoch to start the decisive third inning.
"We led off with a walk," said Whitko head coach Marla Burkhart. "Ninety percent of the time that lead batter walks they're going to score. Then (Manchester) got on a roll and we broke down."
After Hoch walked, McKenzie reached safely on a fielders' choice. Marissa Miller then reached on an error by Whitko third baseman Jennaca Juillerat that also scored Tammy Egolf, who was courtesy running for Hoch.
Samantha Budnik reached safely on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases back up again for the Squires.
Thomas then looped a single to centerfield that scored McKenzie.
After Miller was forced out at home plate, Stephani King broke things open with a two-run single that scored Budnik and Thomas.
Manchester head coach Jim Troyer couldn't have been happier with his team's execution in that decisive third inning.
"Now we're starting to play how I thought we could," said Troyer.
Troyer was also aided by a superb pitching performance by sophomore Renz.
Renz was a midseason call-up from junior varsity and has thrown two straight one-hitters by inducing ground balls and using precise pitch placement.
"She's the type that throws hard and lets her defense help her out," said Troyer of Renz.
Renz finished with seven strikeouts, while walking just two batters in seven full innings.
Westness was able to shrug off that tough third inning and finished the game with eight strikeouts while giving up just two walks and four hits.
"She didn't throw as well as she has for us but she's a competitor," said Burkhart of her young pitcher.
Westness did struggle with control at times against Manchester, and that may have stemmed from her at-bat in the first inning where a ball bounced off her pitching hand.
The Wildcats have jumped out to a 16-2 record with pitching and defense while the offense has struggled.
Whitko managed just one hit against Manchester but Burkhart feels that the bats will come around.
"We put the ball in play tonight. It's been tough to get base hits but they'll come," said Burkhart. "Defense has always been our strongest area but we continue to work on offense."
The win by Manchester puts the Squires and Whitko in a first-place tie atop the TRC.
And now Troyer feels his team can play with any opponent, conference or otherwise.
"Right now we're playing as a team. We're coming to play ball," said Troyer.
Manchester, 10-8 overall and 3-1 in the TRC, is in action Friday at Southwood with a scheduled first pitch of 4:30 p.m.
Whitko, 16-2 overall and 3-1 in the TRC, travels to Tippecanoe Valley for a 4:30 p.m. Friday start.
MANCHESTER 4, WHITKO 1
Manchester
AB R H RBI
Budnik 3 1 1 1
Thomas 3 1 1 1
Kennedy 3 0 0 0
King 3 0 1 2
Helvey 3 0 1 0
Fratus 3 0 0 0
Hoch 2 0 0 0
Egolf 0 1 0 0
McKenzie 2 1 0 0
Miller 3 0 0 0
Totals 25 4 4 3
Whitko
AB R H RBI
Winger 3 0 0 0
H. VanHoozen 3 1 1 0
B. VanHoozen 2 0 0 1
Westness 3 0 0 0
Trump 3 0 0 0
J. Arnett 2 0 0 0
H. Arnett 3 0 0 0
Jersey 3 0 0 0
Langohr 3 0 0 0
Juillerat 2 0 0 0
Totals 27 1 1 1
Whitko (16-2, 3-1) 100 000 0 - 1 1 2
Manchester (10-8, 3-1) 004 000 0 - 4 4 2
3B - H. VanHoozen. HR - None.
IP H R ER BB HB K
Whitko
Westness (L) 6 4 4 4 2 0 8
Manchester
Renz (W) 7 1 1 1 2 0 7 [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
NORTH MANCHESTER - Two young up-and-coming pitchers were the showcase in Wednesday's Three Rivers Conference softball battle between Whitko and host Manchester.
Though it wasn't a hitting masterpiece, the host Squires were able to cut and paste together a four-run third inning to grab a 4-1 conference win and hand the Wildcats just their second loss of the season.
Whitko freshman Jamie Westness toed the rubber for the 16-win Wildcats and was dominant early. Using a nice mixture of fastballs and off-speed pitches, Westness struck out four straight batters at one point.
Manchester's Jarra Renz, Westness' pitching counterpart, wasn't as dominant stuff-wise, but did keep Whitko off-balance all night.
Renz allowed just one run and one hit, with both coming in the top of the first inning.
After getting leadoff hitter Leah Winger to ground out to third baseman Kala McKenzie, the Wildcats' Hannah VanHoozen took a Renz pitch and looped the ball down the first-base line.
VanHoozen motored into third base with a triple. Beth VanHoozen then tapped a ball to Manchester second baseman Casey Thomas, which allowed sister Hannah to score.
With the lead in hand, Westness and Co. looked poised for a shutout until the third inning.
Then boom went the dynamite.
Westness walked seventh-place hitter Megan Hoch to start the decisive third inning.
"We led off with a walk," said Whitko head coach Marla Burkhart. "Ninety percent of the time that lead batter walks they're going to score. Then (Manchester) got on a roll and we broke down."
After Hoch walked, McKenzie reached safely on a fielders' choice. Marissa Miller then reached on an error by Whitko third baseman Jennaca Juillerat that also scored Tammy Egolf, who was courtesy running for Hoch.
Samantha Budnik reached safely on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases back up again for the Squires.
Thomas then looped a single to centerfield that scored McKenzie.
After Miller was forced out at home plate, Stephani King broke things open with a two-run single that scored Budnik and Thomas.
Manchester head coach Jim Troyer couldn't have been happier with his team's execution in that decisive third inning.
"Now we're starting to play how I thought we could," said Troyer.
Troyer was also aided by a superb pitching performance by sophomore Renz.
Renz was a midseason call-up from junior varsity and has thrown two straight one-hitters by inducing ground balls and using precise pitch placement.
"She's the type that throws hard and lets her defense help her out," said Troyer of Renz.
Renz finished with seven strikeouts, while walking just two batters in seven full innings.
Westness was able to shrug off that tough third inning and finished the game with eight strikeouts while giving up just two walks and four hits.
"She didn't throw as well as she has for us but she's a competitor," said Burkhart of her young pitcher.
Westness did struggle with control at times against Manchester, and that may have stemmed from her at-bat in the first inning where a ball bounced off her pitching hand.
The Wildcats have jumped out to a 16-2 record with pitching and defense while the offense has struggled.
Whitko managed just one hit against Manchester but Burkhart feels that the bats will come around.
"We put the ball in play tonight. It's been tough to get base hits but they'll come," said Burkhart. "Defense has always been our strongest area but we continue to work on offense."
The win by Manchester puts the Squires and Whitko in a first-place tie atop the TRC.
And now Troyer feels his team can play with any opponent, conference or otherwise.
"Right now we're playing as a team. We're coming to play ball," said Troyer.
Manchester, 10-8 overall and 3-1 in the TRC, is in action Friday at Southwood with a scheduled first pitch of 4:30 p.m.
Whitko, 16-2 overall and 3-1 in the TRC, travels to Tippecanoe Valley for a 4:30 p.m. Friday start.
MANCHESTER 4, WHITKO 1
Manchester
AB R H RBI
Budnik 3 1 1 1
Thomas 3 1 1 1
Kennedy 3 0 0 0
King 3 0 1 2
Helvey 3 0 1 0
Fratus 3 0 0 0
Hoch 2 0 0 0
Egolf 0 1 0 0
McKenzie 2 1 0 0
Miller 3 0 0 0
Totals 25 4 4 3
Whitko
AB R H RBI
Winger 3 0 0 0
H. VanHoozen 3 1 1 0
B. VanHoozen 2 0 0 1
Westness 3 0 0 0
Trump 3 0 0 0
J. Arnett 2 0 0 0
H. Arnett 3 0 0 0
Jersey 3 0 0 0
Langohr 3 0 0 0
Juillerat 2 0 0 0
Totals 27 1 1 1
Whitko (16-2, 3-1) 100 000 0 - 1 1 2
Manchester (10-8, 3-1) 004 000 0 - 4 4 2
3B - H. VanHoozen. HR - None.
IP H R ER BB HB K
Whitko
Westness (L) 6 4 4 4 2 0 8
Manchester
Renz (W) 7 1 1 1 2 0 7 [[In-content Ad]]