Facing off for the second time this season, the Wawasee and Warsaw softball teams met at the Tiger Athletic Complex Wednesday afternoon for some Northern Lakes Conference action. The result was eerily similar to the first game, as once again, the Lady Warriors were able to finish the job in five innings, winning 14-2.
It didn’t take long for Wawasee to score the first runs of the game, as the first two hitters of the game for the Lady Warriors, sisters Natalya and Makayla Holder, reached base on a single and an error. Natalya would come around to score on a wild pitch, while Makayla would cross home on an infield single by Ashlynn Corn. A few hits later, Wawasee would load the bases with nobody out, but were only able to add one more run on a throwing error at third base.
Haylee Allen took the mound for Wawasee in the bottom of the first, and got right down to business, striking out the first two hitters she saw. She wouldn’t make it three in a row though, as Warsaw shortstop Kali Ousley would drive a ball into deep left field and over the fence for a solo home run. Allen would get a third K to end the inning.
The Lady Warriors kept pouring it on the top of the second, scoring four more runs thanks to four straight hits and five in six at bats. The Holder sisters each reached first on hits before stealing second and being driven home. Corn added her second RBI of the game, while Evelyn Duncan cleared the bases with a two-out single into left that brought home two more runs. After an inning and a half, Wawasee was up 7-1.

    Senior Kalista Ousley of Warsaw waits for the ball as senior Natalya Holder of Wawasee slides safely into second base during the third inning...Nieter
With a big lead to work with, Allen retired the Lady Tigers in order in the bottom of the second, picking up her fourth punch out of the game in the process. Warsaw starter Addison Eastwood was able to get into a grove in the top of the third, retiring the side without giving up a run, generating some soft contact to keep the deficit at six.
No runs would be scored in the bottom of the third either, as the Lady Tigers were only able to muster up a single off the bat of Mia Rodriguez. Otherwise, Allen added three more strikeouts to her total. The top of the fourth was another big one for Wawasee, as the Lady Warriors added six runs. Duncan added to her big day with an RBI double down the third base line, which was followed by an RBI groundout by Kenadi Pierce. A walk to Corn loaded up the bases with two outs in the inning and Allen, already having a great night on the mound, just missed out on adding to her total in a big way, hitting a ball off of the top of the fence that stayed in play for a double. Two runs would score, but Ousley would make a great play throwing home to get the final out at the plate. But the damage had already been done, and Wawasee was up 12.
The Lady Tigers got one back in the bottom half of the inning, as Ousley led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to center. She would steal second and third before being brought home on a sacrifice fly by Kaitlyn O’Dell. Wawasee would get that run right back in the top of the fifth as Heatherlynn Holder scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a walk, heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Tigers needed three runs to extend the game to the sixth.
They would not get them. Allen struck out two of the three hitters she faced to make it eleven in five innings. She gave up two earned runs on two hits, both to Ousley.
Wawasee (9-7, 4-3 NLC) plays Saturday at Carroll while Warsaw (1-14, 1-6 NLC) takes on Goshen on Friday.