Lemberg Tosses 1-Hitter Sectional Semifinal
May 24, 2017 at 4:40 p.m.
Lemberg Tosses 1-Hitter Sectional Semifinal
By Dale [email protected]
With the way senior Amber Lemberg pitched, West Noble never got going.
In a 9-0 win over the Chargers, Wawasee exploded for six runs in the fourth inning, blowing open what was a 1-0 game, and benefitted mightily from Lemberg’s 1-hitter that included 14 strikeouts.
A leadoff single by senior Makenna Taylor in the bottom of the third inning amounted to West Noble’s only base runner of the game, and Lemberg fanned four of the last six batters she faced.
“She just gets into a rhythm,” first-year Wawasee coach Mike Barger said of Lemberg. “If I bring her in from first base she doesn’t get that rhythm, but when she starts, she throws four or five pitches before the game and then it’s just me calling pitches.
“I’ve got to be ready, because I’m telling you she’s wanting to pitch right after that. She starts getting in the groove. Once she gets in her comfort zone she starts to move the ball, and she doesn’t try to overpower anybody, she just hits her spots. She knows that the defense is back there.”
With the win, Wawasee improved to 23-3 on the season and advanced to Thursday’s 6 p.m. sectional final against the Fairfield Falcons, who beat Tippecanoe Valley 17-10 in Tuesday’s second semifinal.
The Chargers, who were coached by Barger the past two seasons, ended their season with a 5-16 record.
Wawasee senior Ale Brito led off the game with a walk and later scored when classmate Meghan Fretz reached on an error.
That was the only run of the game until the fourth inning when senior Hannah Haines led off with a single and Barger opted to play small-ball and bunt runners around the bases.
The Lady Warriors, who benefitted from two West Noble errors in the inning, tallied five hits while scoring six runs in the fourth.
Wawasee later scored one run each in the sixth and seventh innings.
“You can’t start slow against good teams,” said Barger. “They realize that, but it continues. I told them, ‘if you guys continue to start slow you’re not going to achieve what you’re looking for.’
“We’ve got to start fast. It got to the fourth inning and we started coming alive, started bunting and moving runners. (West Noble) made a mistake on a throw, next thing you know everybody is running around and everybody is energized.”
Junior Aubrey Kuhn led Wawasee with three hits and an RBI, while senior Kayla White drove in three runs, and Brito finished the game with two hits and two runs scored.
Fretz had the game’s only extra-base hit, a double in the sixth inning.
WAWASEE 9, WEST NOBLE 0
Waw 100 601 1 – 9
WN 000 000 0 – 0
Wawasee – Amber Lemberg (W, 7IP, 1H, 14K, 0BB)
West Noble – Kasia Weigold (L, 6IP, 8H, 9R, 1K, 4BB), Ashley Strombeck (1IP, 2H, 0R, 0K, 1BB)
2B – Meghan Fretz (Waw)
Records: Wawasee 23-3, West Noble 5-16
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With the way senior Amber Lemberg pitched, West Noble never got going.
In a 9-0 win over the Chargers, Wawasee exploded for six runs in the fourth inning, blowing open what was a 1-0 game, and benefitted mightily from Lemberg’s 1-hitter that included 14 strikeouts.
A leadoff single by senior Makenna Taylor in the bottom of the third inning amounted to West Noble’s only base runner of the game, and Lemberg fanned four of the last six batters she faced.
“She just gets into a rhythm,” first-year Wawasee coach Mike Barger said of Lemberg. “If I bring her in from first base she doesn’t get that rhythm, but when she starts, she throws four or five pitches before the game and then it’s just me calling pitches.
“I’ve got to be ready, because I’m telling you she’s wanting to pitch right after that. She starts getting in the groove. Once she gets in her comfort zone she starts to move the ball, and she doesn’t try to overpower anybody, she just hits her spots. She knows that the defense is back there.”
With the win, Wawasee improved to 23-3 on the season and advanced to Thursday’s 6 p.m. sectional final against the Fairfield Falcons, who beat Tippecanoe Valley 17-10 in Tuesday’s second semifinal.
The Chargers, who were coached by Barger the past two seasons, ended their season with a 5-16 record.
Wawasee senior Ale Brito led off the game with a walk and later scored when classmate Meghan Fretz reached on an error.
That was the only run of the game until the fourth inning when senior Hannah Haines led off with a single and Barger opted to play small-ball and bunt runners around the bases.
The Lady Warriors, who benefitted from two West Noble errors in the inning, tallied five hits while scoring six runs in the fourth.
Wawasee later scored one run each in the sixth and seventh innings.
“You can’t start slow against good teams,” said Barger. “They realize that, but it continues. I told them, ‘if you guys continue to start slow you’re not going to achieve what you’re looking for.’
“We’ve got to start fast. It got to the fourth inning and we started coming alive, started bunting and moving runners. (West Noble) made a mistake on a throw, next thing you know everybody is running around and everybody is energized.”
Junior Aubrey Kuhn led Wawasee with three hits and an RBI, while senior Kayla White drove in three runs, and Brito finished the game with two hits and two runs scored.
Fretz had the game’s only extra-base hit, a double in the sixth inning.
WAWASEE 9, WEST NOBLE 0
Waw 100 601 1 – 9
WN 000 000 0 – 0
Wawasee – Amber Lemberg (W, 7IP, 1H, 14K, 0BB)
West Noble – Kasia Weigold (L, 6IP, 8H, 9R, 1K, 4BB), Ashley Strombeck (1IP, 2H, 0R, 0K, 1BB)
2B – Meghan Fretz (Waw)
Records: Wawasee 23-3, West Noble 5-16
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