St. Joe Blanks Lady Warriors
June 5, 2017 at 3:49 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
In a 3-0 victory in the Class 3A semistate semifinals at Twin Lakes, the Lady Indians accomplished their goal.
Outside of Brito drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, the first two batters in Wawasee’s lineup were silenced, as they were a combined 0 for 5 at the plate.
“That was our main goal. That was our personal key to the game ... to keep their first and second hitters off the bases,” said Keith, whose team fell 4-1 to Kankakee Valley in Saturday night’s championship game.
“We knew they had all those stolen bases, they wreak havoc on the bases, and our pitcher was hitting spots and we were just lucky enough to do it.”
The Lady Warriors managed just five hits, all singles, off St. Joe freshman Lauren Sandor, who gave up just one walk while striking out 11 in seven innings of work.
Madie Wilson had two hits in the loss, while Meghan Fretz, Aubrey Kuhn and Hannah Haines had one each.
“We couldn’t get a bunt down, we just couldn’t execute when we needed to execute,” said first-year Wawasee coach Mike Barger, whose team finished the season with a 25-4 record.
“Sometimes that happens.”
The Lady Indians, who got eight hits off Fretz, scored two runs in the top of the first inning and added an insurance run in the seventh.
Contrary to Wawasee’s struggles at the top of the batting order, St. Joe’s Taylor Kowalski and Hannah Goerke were a combined 4 for 8 at the plate.
Kowalski hit two doubles in the game, while Sydney Swartz hit one of her own.
“As much as it was getting off to that 2-0 start, it was just as big in the bottom of the inning when Wawasee had runners on first and third and didn’t score,” said Keith.
“That would have been a big momentum swing back to them, but since we held them there we were lucky and got through that inning.
“When you get off to a start like that, it just charges everybody up. (Kowalski) is our fastest player, so when she gets on base we know we have a good chance to score, and I think she scored both times that she doubled. Our leadoff hitter was golden today.”
Trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning, Wawasee had a pair of runners on with just one out and cleanup hitter Fretz at bat.
Fretz popped up for the second out, and then Wilson was caught stealing with Haines at bat to end the threat.
“I’ll be honest with you, Meghan getting one up in the air and getting it out of here, a three-run homer,” Barger said when asked what he was thinking in that situation.
“I was gonna think about bunting at that point, but I knew one run is not gonna cut it. We’d still be down one at that point. Madie was at first base with some wheels, I just needed the line drive base hit, and Meghan lifted one in the air. It was too short to score a run, and it wasn’t worth trying to get the third out that way.”
With Saturday’s loss came the end of a strong senior class that includes Christy Carson, Leah DeSomer, Amber Lemberg, Riley Kunkle, Brito, Wilson, Fretz and Haines.
The class was part of three NLC titles, two sectional crowns and the program’s first regional championship.
The Lady Warriors won the NLC?this season with a 14-0 record.
“I’m sure I’m gonna see some watery eyes,” said Barger. “I’ll tell them thank you, and then we’ll get the summer stuff started.
“This season is gonna do a lot for our program. For one, I think it’s gonna get the young kids interested, they’re gonna say ‘holy cow they made it to the semistate, we wanna do that.’
“There were some younger kids sitting in the bleachers, and I know they’re itching to do it. I’ve got a big freshman class coming in. It’s back to the drawing board, we’ll start to rebuild and get back to this stage again.”
Kankakee Valley will play New Palestine in Saturday’s state finals at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis.
New Palestine beat Evansville Memorial 10-1 to win the southern semistate.
SB ST JOE 3, WAWASEE 0
SJ 200 000 1 – 3
W 000 000 0 – 0
St. Joe – Lauren Sandor (W, 7IP, 5H, 0R, 11K, 1BB)
Wawasee – Meghan Fretz (L, 7IP, 8H, 3R, 6K, 0BB)
2B – Taylor Kowalski (SJ) 2, Sydney Swartz (SJ)
Records: Wawasee 25-4, St. Joe 26-5 (after championship game loss to Kankakee Valley)
Other semifinal: Kankakee Valley 2, Bellmont 1
Championship: Kankakee Valley 4, St. Joe 1
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In a 3-0 victory in the Class 3A semistate semifinals at Twin Lakes, the Lady Indians accomplished their goal.
Outside of Brito drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, the first two batters in Wawasee’s lineup were silenced, as they were a combined 0 for 5 at the plate.
“That was our main goal. That was our personal key to the game ... to keep their first and second hitters off the bases,” said Keith, whose team fell 4-1 to Kankakee Valley in Saturday night’s championship game.
“We knew they had all those stolen bases, they wreak havoc on the bases, and our pitcher was hitting spots and we were just lucky enough to do it.”
The Lady Warriors managed just five hits, all singles, off St. Joe freshman Lauren Sandor, who gave up just one walk while striking out 11 in seven innings of work.
Madie Wilson had two hits in the loss, while Meghan Fretz, Aubrey Kuhn and Hannah Haines had one each.
“We couldn’t get a bunt down, we just couldn’t execute when we needed to execute,” said first-year Wawasee coach Mike Barger, whose team finished the season with a 25-4 record.
“Sometimes that happens.”
The Lady Indians, who got eight hits off Fretz, scored two runs in the top of the first inning and added an insurance run in the seventh.
Contrary to Wawasee’s struggles at the top of the batting order, St. Joe’s Taylor Kowalski and Hannah Goerke were a combined 4 for 8 at the plate.
Kowalski hit two doubles in the game, while Sydney Swartz hit one of her own.
“As much as it was getting off to that 2-0 start, it was just as big in the bottom of the inning when Wawasee had runners on first and third and didn’t score,” said Keith.
“That would have been a big momentum swing back to them, but since we held them there we were lucky and got through that inning.
“When you get off to a start like that, it just charges everybody up. (Kowalski) is our fastest player, so when she gets on base we know we have a good chance to score, and I think she scored both times that she doubled. Our leadoff hitter was golden today.”
Trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning, Wawasee had a pair of runners on with just one out and cleanup hitter Fretz at bat.
Fretz popped up for the second out, and then Wilson was caught stealing with Haines at bat to end the threat.
“I’ll be honest with you, Meghan getting one up in the air and getting it out of here, a three-run homer,” Barger said when asked what he was thinking in that situation.
“I was gonna think about bunting at that point, but I knew one run is not gonna cut it. We’d still be down one at that point. Madie was at first base with some wheels, I just needed the line drive base hit, and Meghan lifted one in the air. It was too short to score a run, and it wasn’t worth trying to get the third out that way.”
With Saturday’s loss came the end of a strong senior class that includes Christy Carson, Leah DeSomer, Amber Lemberg, Riley Kunkle, Brito, Wilson, Fretz and Haines.
The class was part of three NLC titles, two sectional crowns and the program’s first regional championship.
The Lady Warriors won the NLC?this season with a 14-0 record.
“I’m sure I’m gonna see some watery eyes,” said Barger. “I’ll tell them thank you, and then we’ll get the summer stuff started.
“This season is gonna do a lot for our program. For one, I think it’s gonna get the young kids interested, they’re gonna say ‘holy cow they made it to the semistate, we wanna do that.’
“There were some younger kids sitting in the bleachers, and I know they’re itching to do it. I’ve got a big freshman class coming in. It’s back to the drawing board, we’ll start to rebuild and get back to this stage again.”
Kankakee Valley will play New Palestine in Saturday’s state finals at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis.
New Palestine beat Evansville Memorial 10-1 to win the southern semistate.
SB ST JOE 3, WAWASEE 0
SJ 200 000 1 – 3
W 000 000 0 – 0
St. Joe – Lauren Sandor (W, 7IP, 5H, 0R, 11K, 1BB)
Wawasee – Meghan Fretz (L, 7IP, 8H, 3R, 6K, 0BB)
2B – Taylor Kowalski (SJ) 2, Sydney Swartz (SJ)
Records: Wawasee 25-4, St. Joe 26-5 (after championship game loss to Kankakee Valley)
Other semifinal: Kankakee Valley 2, Bellmont 1
Championship: Kankakee Valley 4, St. Joe 1
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