SYRACUSE — In a well-played game, a couple costly errors were the difference Friday in Syracuse. Tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Wawasee softball team (5-6) scored two runs on two errors by the Manchester Lady Squires (1-2), going on to win the game 3-1. Wawasee junior Kylie Norris began the fifth with a walk, then the Lady Warriors capitalized on an errant throw to first base off a softly hit ball by junior Victoria Warren. Following a double steal, freshman Sam Malik grounded out, but drove in Norris in the process, giving her team the lead. Warren later came around to score on another Manchester error, with two outs. "Walks will come back to haunt you," Manchester coach Todd Volk said. "We only had one for the game, but it was right there to start an inning. They capitalized on it." Pitching with a two-run lead, Wawasee senior pitcher Gabi Routson faced just seven Lady Squire batters over the next two innings, striking out two and inducing three groundouts. "Gabi's been around a while," Volk said about the Wawasee hurler. "She pitched great tonight. She kept us off-balance with that changeup. We talked about it, but it's one thing to talk about and another thing to face it." Going all seven innings, Routson struck out a total of eight Lady Squires and gave up just four hits. "Gabi pitched another great game tonight, after pitching well (Thursday against Columbia City)," Wawasee coach Cory Schutz said. Against Columbia City, Routson got a 1-0 victory, meaning close games don't make her nervous. "We like the 1-0, the 2-0 (scores)," Schutz said. "It's a little nerve-wracking, but at the same time, it's nice to not be stressing the entire time that something's going to happen." Along with doing it in the circle, Routson was also effective with her bat, hitting a solo home run in the first inning. "She's been hitting real well this year," Schutz said. "That was just a great line-drive hit that happened to carry out. She's making good, solid contact. If you keep doing that, things are going to fall in place." Manchester senior Kristiana Grogg responded to the Routson shot with a solo homer of her own in the top of the second, but after that, the Lady Squires could only muster two hits. Wawasee also struggled against Manchester sophomore pitcher Sydney Jordan, getting just two hits in innings two through four, but that changed in the fifth. "We just told the girls to continue to be aggressive in the batter's box and be smart," Schutz said. The two-run fifth put Volk in a spot he would have preferred to have not been in. "It changes your thinking when you're down two," he said. "When you're down by one, you can get that first person on, then bunt them over to second. (Down two), you have to play for two runs." Manchester is right back in action today, hosting a doubleheader against Fremont at 11 a.m., while Wawasee is off until it hosts Warsaw Monday night.
WAWASEE 3, MANCHESTER 1 M 010 000 0 — 1 4 3 W 100 020 x — 3 6 2 Gabi Routson (W, 7IP, 1R, 1ER, 4H, 8K, 2BB, 1HR) and Paige Hlutke; Sydney Jordan (L, 5IP, 3R, 1ER, 4H, 3K, 1BB, 1HB, 1HR), Karissa Jimenez (6, 1IP, 0R, 2H, 2K) and Nine Smith. HR — Routson (W), Kristiana Grogg (M). Records — Wawasee 5-6, Manchester 2-1. JV — Wawasee 6, Manchester 4. M 000 400 0 — 4 9 4 W 131 010 x — 6 4 3 Alexis Graber (W, 7IP, 9H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 6K) and Courtney Crabtree. Wawasee JV Record — 4-2.
