BENTON – Wawasee High School’s softball team has started to go into serious attack mode. The Lady Warriors (24-5) hit the ball hard and often Tuesday on the way to a 12-1 win against Northern Lakes Conference rival NorthWood in the semifinals of the Class 3A Fairfield Sectional. “It’s nice to see us hit the ball hard again tonight. It was nice to see everybody – top to bottom – put the ball in play and hit it hard again,” Wawasee coach Jared Knipper said after watching his hitters strike the ball frequently with authority, collecting eight hits (one double) and taking advantage of six errors by the Lady Panthers. “We jumped out early, they made some mistakes and we capitalized on that a little bit.” The Lady Warriors, the designated visiting team, jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning with two hits and three NorthWood errors and never looked back in scoring double digits against the Lady Panthers for the second time in 2016 (Wawasee won 10-5 in Syracuse May 9) and earning a spot in Thursday’s 6 p.m. sectional final. Fairfield, which beat Wawasee 9-2 earlier this season, beat Lakeland 10-0 in Tuesday’s other semifinal. After NorthWood (16-11) got a run back in the bottom of the first inning, the game remained 5-1 until the Warriors added one run in the fifth, four in the sixth and two in the seventh. “This team plays well with the lead,” Knipper said. “We’ve got pretty solid defense and good pitching. When you get a lead – and a comfortable lead – like that you can loosen up.” That doesn’t mean the coach was totally relaxed. “NorthWood is a team that never gives up,” Knipper said. “They’ve got nine kids who fight and we’ve seen them over and over again for the past three years. You never feel that they’re out of it even with that lead.” With three Warriors starters – Meghan Fretz, Kylee Rostochak and Danielle Gunkel – away from team, the Panthers beat Wawasee 4-3 in Nappanee on April 22. On Tuesday, Fretz drove in three runs with a single and sacrifice fly and was the winning pitcher, tossing a three-hitter (all singles to catcher Claire McGuire) with six strikeouts and four walks. Shortstop Rostochak collected three hits, scored two runs and drove in one. Designated player Gunkel scored the fourth run in the first inning. Wawasee right fielder Hannah Haines ripped a pair of infield singles and scored three runs. Knipper added that his team’s quality at-bats also include being more selective. That was demonstrated Tuesday against NorthWood’s two pitchers – starter Alexis Klotz (2/3 innings, 5 runs, 2 hits, 0 strikeouts, 2 walks) and reliever Taylor Troxel (5 1/3 innings, 7 runs, 6 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks). “We had been getting into the habit of swinging at balls that are not strikes and were popping them up and grounding them out,” Knipper said. “Later in the game, we talk about being more patient and let some balls go by and hit a better strike.” After sending Troxel to the circle in the first two meetings, NorthWood coach Mandy DeMien said she decided to switch things up with Klotz. “They were used to hitting against Taylor,” DeMien said. “I thought we would show them something different.”
