NORTH MANCHESTER — It took a couple innings, but once the Manchester softball team’s bats got hot Thursday, they stayed that way, leading to a five-inning victory over the visiting Triton Lady Trojans. After mustering just two hits in the first two innings, the Manchester Lady Squires got 13 in the next two-and-two-third frames, leading to a 15-5 win in five innings. “They do a very nice job of adjusting now,” Manchester coach Todd Volk said about his squad. “Last year, when they were younger, they probably would have started panicking. They’ve just learned to adjust. We saw a pitcher that threw hard last night (against Peru), and obviously, this game was a little different. We were getting out ahead of ourselves, but they talked amongst themselves and went ahead and fixed it.” The game was Triton’s third this week, and with it being the only one out of conference, coach Steve McBride turned to his No. 2 pitcher Katie Claxon, giving freshman Mallorie Jennings a shot at playing third base. “This is a nonconference game in the middle of our conference season, so we were giving some kids some opportunities,” he said. “That’s not taking anything away from Manchester. They hit the ball really well.” Senior Erika Milam led Manchester with a 3-for-4 game, which included four RBIs, two runs and a double, but she wasn’t the only one hitting. The Lady Squires also got a 3-for-4 game from junior Hannah Little, who scored three runs in the process, while sophomore Kalene Freshour went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base. In all, six different Lady Squires posted hits, while four others either reached on walks or errors, and junior Tiffany Clark didn’t get on base, but did drive home a run. “Our pitchers are throwing strikes and I feel good with the lineup, one through nine, but I also feel good with 11, 12 and 13,” Volk said. “They can all hit the ball, which makes life a little easier. You just feel like you can start a rally anywhere in the lineup.” For Triton, senior Hannah Downing filled in for Claxon at her normal catcher position, throwing out one baserunner and going 2 for 3 at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base. “Hannah’s the kind of kid that we can put any place and she’s going to give us 100 percent,” McBride said. Claxon also went 2 for 3, driving home two runs, but McBride is ready to get back to normalcy today when Triton hosts Bremen in Northern State Conference play. “We have a conference game and we’ll get back to our normal thing,” he said. “There’s some good things that happened for us, but Manchester hit the ball.” After opening the season at 0-3, the Lady Squires have now won 3 of 4 and have won their last two contests via the 10-run rule, having defeated Peru 11-1 Wednesday evening. “At the beginning of the season,we just didn’t come out with enthusiasm,” Volk said. “I kind of challenged them to treat the regular season games like sectional games. We have a lot more of excitement in the dugout now.” Manchester hosts its own tournament Saturday.
MANCHESTER 15, TRITON 5 (5 innings) T 100 13 — 5 8 4 M 007 62 — 15 14 2 Natalee Cain (W, 4IP, 1R, 1ER, 4H, 3K, 2BB, 1HB), Mikie Crate (5, 1IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 2K) and Kristiania Grogg; Katie Claxon (L, 4-2/3IP, 15R, 9ER, 14H, 2K, 3BB) and Hannah Downing 2B — Erika Milam (M) Records — Manchester 3-4, Triton 6-5 JV — Manchester 10, Triton 0
