Following a 2-3 start, few people could have seen Warsaw's varsity softball team sitting at 8-4 right now, but coach Tanya Kempton was one of them.
"The team is young, but they're coming around with their hitting," she said Tuesday after a 9-0 win over Northridge. "We had a couple games where we just weren't hitting. Now, everybody is swinging the bat and getting some hits for us."The victory at the Tiger Athletic Complex was Warsaw's sixth in the past seven games, and leaves the squad with a 5-0 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference. On the other side, the Lady Raiders fell to 9-5 overall, 2-2 in the NLC.
The blowout win started quickly, as junior Kaitlin Reichard, Warsaw's third batter, sent a pitch from Northridge sophomore Sam Steele over the outfield fence, plating herself and leadoff hitter Kendra Marshall.
Later in the inning, freshman Kelsey Dotson scored from third on a wild pitch, giving Warsaw a quick 3-0 lead.
"It's nice to be ahead at the beginning," Kempton said. "We've had to come from behind in a couple games, and they've been nail-biters. It was nice to be able to relax a little bit and have fun."
The team was able to relax as junior pitcher Sam Snider pitched all seven innings, surrendering just three hits.
"They just had a few hits, and (sophomore center fielder) Paige (Wood) robbed them of a hit at the end," Kempton said of a Wood catch that sent her crashing into the fence. "That was a really nice catch."
The catch was impressive, but holding on to a 9-0 lead with one out, it wasn't necessarily crucial.
Giving the Tigers that nine-run cushion were Kempton's freshmen, Marshall and Dotson.
On top of supplying great defense, which included Dotson throwing out Northridge freshman Caity Pixley as she attempted to steal second base, the girls also supplied some pop at the plate.
Batting leadoff, Marshall went 2 for 2, drawing two walks and scoring two runs, while Dotson had a 2-for-2 day in the cleanup spot, scoring two runs, including a solo home home run to open the bottom of the fifth inning.
Last season, Warsaw's best two players were arguably Tera Clark at third and Heather Shepherd at catcher.
Luckily for Kempton, two of her best current players also play those positions, with Marshall patrolling third and Dotson behind the plate, helping the Tigers not miss a beat.
"It's nothing I've done," Kempton said about the two stellar freshmen. "It's them and their parents. They encourage them to play hard, and they play travel ball. I just got a couple gifts."
The Tigers will look to keep their perfect NLC mark intact Friday when they travel to Concord for a 5 p.m. game.
WARSAW 9, NORTHRIDGE 0
N 000 000 0 - 0 3 2
W 302 022 x - 9 7 1
Snider (W, 7IP, 3H, 0R, 3K, 1BB) and Dotson; Steele (L, 3IP, 5R, 5ER, 4H, 1K, 5BB), Wingard (4, 3IP, 4R, 3ER, 3H, 2K, 2BB, 1HB) and Miller
