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NORTH MANCHESTER - If only softball were three innings long. If that were the case, Wawasee would have dominated Manchester to the tune of 9-5.
But high school softball lasts seven innings. Manchester knows that, and Wawasee probably now realizes it. The Squires scored with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on Friday night to defeat the Warriors 13-12.
Manchester has allowed at least 11 runs in all four of its games so far, and as a result, this is the first one that the Squires have won. Wawasee, on the other hand, allowed just four runs to Rochester, but fell 4-3 on Wednesday.
For a while, it looked like the Warriors would have another strong defensive effort, but Manchester decided to do something about that.
After Manchester fell behind 7-0, pitcher Jodie Peden helped out the Squires' cause. She hit a bases-loaded triple over the head of Wawasee center fielder Sonya Beer that closed the gap to 7-4.
But the Wawasee bats continued to get to Peden. Angie Hoover singled to drive home Jenny Szynal, and Carly Beer scored another run on an error to extend the lead to 9-4.
Manchester scored one run in the bottom of the third on a single from Missy Miller that drove home Heidi Wieland after a triple.
That set up Manchester's big fourth inning. After an error and a pair of walks, Jamie Gillum hit a single to drive in two runs. Head coach Jim Troyer brought in Megan Sell to pinch hit, and she stepped up with a bases-clearing triple to tie the score at 9-9. Sell then scored on a wild pitch that gave Manchester its first lead of the game.
Wawasee came back in the fifth with three runs on just one hit. Peden walked three batters in the inning, two with the bases loaded, then hit another batter and threw a wild pitch that put Wawasee ahead 12-10.
Just when it looked like Peden was tiring, she got stronger.
Peden faced only three batters in the top of the sixth, and the Squires tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of runs. Three Wawasee errors were costly and Michelle Gerber added a sacrifice fly that scored a run.
In the seventh, Peden got Hayley Van Lue to ground out with two on to end the threat.
In the bottom of the seventh, with Miller on second and Gillum on first, Megan Sell popped up to short right-center field. But the ball fell between the converging fielders as Miller crossed the plate for the win.
Even though Manchester won the game, the defense still needs to get stronger.
"We just need more practice," Troyer said. "The last two games, we've cut down on our walks, and that has helped a lot. We were left with nine freshmen and a sophomore who never played on varsity. They are new, and trying to teach the game is the hard part of it."
Wawasee head coach Bo O'Dell was left scratching his head. The Warriors had scored only three runs in their first two games, and even though they scored 12 runs, they never got the clutch hits down the stretch.
"We only got it going for a couple of innings," O'Dell said. "We were in position to make all the plays, and we mentally lost our focus and dropped some balls that we should have had."
Peden pitched the entire seven innings for Manchester, picking up the win despite allowing nine earned runs.
"It's not going to teach them how to pitch if I take them out," first-year coach Troyer said. "Our main games are going to be conference and sectional. We have 11 or 12 games before we get to conference. If I take them out now, it isn't going to help them any. I've already told them, if they start, they finish - unless they get tired and they want to come out."
Wawasee (0-3) will head to Warsaw on Monday for a 4:30 p.m. game. Manchester (1-3) hosts a doubleheader with Triton today at 11 a.m.
