BENTON – Winning the Class 3A Sectional 21 title Thursday evening at Fairfield High School, the Wawasee softball team also set a school record for wins in a season with 20. Doubling their win total from a year ago, when they went 10-13, the Wawasee Lady Warriors (20-10) got an 8-0 win over the Lakeland Lady Lakers (15-13) and will host No. 7 Leo in Tuesday’s regional. “I kind of thought we were going to have a great season, but I didn’t think it was going to be this great,” Wawasee freshman pitcher Amber Lemberg said. “I’ve been really impressed with my team.” And her team has been impressed with her. Pitching 20 of the 21 innings at the sectional, Lemberg excelled in the championship game, striking out eight and allowing just one hit. “She’s a workhorse,” Wawasee head coach Jared Knipper said of Lemberg, who also got sectional wins over Tippecanoe Valley and Fairfield this week. “She, combined with everyone else on this team, did what they had to do. She’s done a nice job. A young kid on the biggest stage she’s ever been on, and she did fantastic. You can’t ask for a better job.” Lemberg has teamed with fellow freshman pitcher Meghan Fretz to guide Wawasee to a successful season, but junior catcher Paige Hlutke wasn’t sure that’d be the case before the season started. “Coming into open gym, I was thinking, ‘Two freshman pitchers. I’m going to have to work my butt off,’” the three-year starter behind the plate said. “But it’s been awesome. I could not be happier with my teammates.” On a team with just one senior, Hlutke is a leader on the team, and has been more than pleased with the pitchers she’s been working with this year. “For as young of a team as we are, it’s amazing,” she said. “Our two freshmen pitchers, as their catcher, I couldn’t ask for anything more from them. They hit as many spots as I could ask. “They’re both extremely good and once they get older, they’ll be phenomenal,” she added. “Amber has a thing where she relaxes well. When she’s relaxed, she’s having fun and she throws so much better.” Early on against Lakeland, the batters were making Lemberg work, as junior leadoff hitter Madison Campbell didn’t take the bat off her shoulder, drawing a five-pitch walk. Following a sacrifice bunt, junior Ashton Miller was then hit by a pitch. With two runners on, Lakeland’s first real swing resulted in a lineout, but Campbell and Miller were then able to move into scoring position following a passed ball. With runners at second and third and two outs showing on the scoreboard, Lemberg calmly struck out senior Laken Detweiler, avoiding any damage. “I just have to take a breath and just get all the nerves out,” Lemberg said of her mindset in the circle. “Then, I can do what I need to do.” Lakeland only got one more runner into scoring position the rest of the game, but Wawasee wasn’t as quiet at the plate. Freshman Ale Brito plated Wawasee’s first run in the third inning, reaching on a one-out single, then stealing second after freshman Madie Wilson was struck out, recording the second out of the inning. Lakeland sophomore Aspen Bond appeared to be getting out of the inning after sophomore Cristina DeLaFuente hit a groundball, but the throw to first base was too high, allowing Brito to come around to score from second. That run proved to be the winning one, but Wawasee added another two in the fourth inning, as Fretz hit a single that scored junior Alli Ousley and sophomore Kylee Rostochak. Holding a 3-0 lead, the Lady Warriors blew things open in the sixth, scoring five runs on five hits. “We’re kind of a late-starting team, but once the bats got going, it all kind of came together,” Knipper said. “We strung a lot together, and it feels good going into the last three outs with a nice big lead like that.” Overanxious in the top of the seventh, Lakeland went down 1-2-3. Like Hlutke, Ousley is also playing for her third coach in three years at Wawasee, helping her enjoy the success of this season even more. “There’s such a big difference from my freshman and sophomore years,” she said. “It’s awesome just seeing how much we’ve grown this year.” Returning a lot of talent from last year’s team, the freshmen appear to have put Wawasee over the top. Along with Lemberg’s performance, Fretz was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and Brito built on her two-hit game from Wednesday against Fairfield with a 3-for-3 effort with two runs against Lakeland. “They’re young and they’re talented,” Knipper said of the Class of 2017. On top of building its win total, Hlutke commented the girls have also been building relationships over the course of the year. “This team is my family,” she said. “We’re absolutely sisters. I’d trust any of these girls with anything. It’s more than softball.”
