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Down 3-0 before even stepping to the plate, the Wawasee softball team found itself in the hole early on Friday night at home against Manchester. From that point on, the Lady Warriors were able to put together an offensive masterclass, tallying 14 hits and eleven runs in a 11-7 victory.
The Lady Squires wasted no time getting on the board. It started with a one-out triple by Hadley West, who went opposite field with a nice piece of hitting. She was bunted home a batter later by Allie Egolf, who reached on a throwing error. After another misplay by the Wawasee infield, two runners stood in scoring position for Finley Espeset, who made the most of her opportunity by hitting a single to right that drove in both runs. Before taking the field for the first time, Manchester led 3-0.
Some control issues to begin the bottom of the first for Lady Squire starter Elin Betten came back to bite her, the Lady Warriors were able to use a sacrifice fly from Abbagail Willey and an RBI single by MariJo Bontrager to plate two during their first trip to the plate.
Wawasee hurler Olivia Kirchbaum fared much better in the second inning, picking up her second strikeout of the game. However, two more errors by the defense around her allowed the visitors to add another run to their total, as a sacrifice fly by West scored McKayla Dillon to make it 4-2.
The Lady Warriors had a prime opportunity to get a run back their next time up, as Melissa Bontrager led the inning off with a double, which was followed up by a walk by Audra Weaver. However, two of the three outs the home side made in the second were made on the basepaths, as Bontrager was thrown out at home on an infield grounder by Ashlynn Corn, who was thrown out stealing second a few pitches later.
Even still, Wawasee was able to get a bit of momentum back in the top of the third, as Kirchbaum needed just nine pitches to retire the side and put up her first zero of the contest onto the scoreboard.
That momentum carried over to the bats, as the next trip to the plate was a big one for the home side. Beginning the bottom of the third with back-to-back singles, Hadley Allen stepped into the box and came up with a two-RBI double that tied things up. A batter later, Willey hit one to the fence to score Allen and give the Lady Warriors their first lead of the day at 5-4.
Outside of a two-out single by Ava Sautter, the Lady Squires were unable to respond in any big way to their opponent taking the lead the inning prior. In the bottom half of the fourth, the Lady Warriors had no such problem. Leadoff hitter Tatum Thorn got the party started by scoring for the third time in the game. This time, she picked up an RBI in the process, clearing the right field fence with a solo home run.
After a single by Kira Alvarez, Allen came up and blasted an opposite field shot that landed in almost the exact same spot as Thorn’s blast for a two-run homer to give her four RBIs in two innings. Headed to the fifth, the home side now led 8-4.
SophomoreFinley Espeset of Manchester drives in two runs during her turn at bat in the first inning...Nieter
Meanwhile, the Lady Squire bats had cooled off significantly after the hot start. West led the inning off with a single, but was ruled out on the basepaths for leaving early while attempting to steal second. The hitters that followed weren’t able to do much either, making it four straight scoreless innings for the visitors. On the other side, an RBI single by Corn made it three straight innings with a run for Wawasee, making it a 9-4 game after five.
Needing a spark and needing it soon, Manchester got it in the form of three straight singles to begin the top of the sixth. The third, off the bat of Betten, scored Alexis Jarrett to put the visitors on the board. Two hitters later, Mya Metzger got a hold of one and drove in two more to shrink the Wawasee lead to two. The Lady Squires had an opportunity to add one or two more, but a crucial miscue on the bases ended the threat.
The home side got two of those three runs back during their last time up. Allen reached on a walk and came home on a double by Willey, who scored on a wild pitch moments later. With three outs left to play with, Manchester had four runs to make up. However, while the visitors were able to muster a pair of hits, the contest was decided on a 6-3 double play that sealed it for the Lady Warriors.
