BOURBON - After beating Westview 15-0 Wednesday, it appeared Wawasee's varsity softball team wanted to give its fans are little more excitement Thursday at Triton.
"It was way too exciting," Wawasee coach Cory Schutz said of his team's 12-10 road win over the Triton Trojans.After going up 6-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the Warriors saw that lead slip away, eventually falling behind 10-9 going into the top of the seventh inning. With Wawasee down to its last out, a rally began, putting an end to the hope for a home team victory.
Triton pitcher Bethany Kern began the seventh by getting two outs, but then Taylor Goshert came to the plate, hitting a double. Two walks later, Jonna Wiggs grabbed the bat with the bases loaded and slammed a double to left-center field, scoring three runs.
"Either team could have won." said Triton coach Steve McBride. "They got the big hit when they needed it."
The three RBI, gave Wiggs five on the night, while Ashley Truman had two more for the Warriors.
Goshert didn't have an RBI in the game, but did go 4 for 5, scoring three runs and recording a stolen base. Wawasee's leadoff hitter also led off four of the seven innings.
"The leadoff hitter for them gave us fits all night," McBride said of Goshert.
However, the last time she gave McBride and his team came fits was with the Warriors down to their final out and down by a run with the bases empty.
"I was glad to be at the spot in the order," Schutz said about Goshert coming to the plate with one out remaining. "She's a natural born leader. She plays hard and does things the right way."
Of her three runs, Goshert's first came in the opening inning when she scored from third base on a groundball with two outs. Instead of going to first base for the force out, Triton threw the ball home in an attempt to get her out, but the plan backfired. On top leading to that run, the mental miscue also gave Wawasee another out, which allowed Goshert to get an at-bat in the seventh.
"We had some critical mistakes," McBride said.
Triton made mistakes, but the Trojans also did plenty of things right.
Down 6-0, the Trojans capitalized on a one-out triple by Jessica Ganshorn, cutting the deficit to 6-1 on a Jessica Calvert groundout. After Wawasee added another run in the fifth, Triton scored four more in the bottom of the fourth, cutting the lead to 7-5 against first-time Wawasee pitcher Wiggs.
"We're down right now with pitchers, our first two are in New York with the choir," Schutz said, referring to Aubrey Mroz and Ashlee Shepherd. "(Wiggs) practiced one time, so she did a good job."
Wiggs' biggest struggle came in the bottom of the sixth, where Triton opened the inning with consecutive walks and two singles. By the time the inning was over, Triton had claimed the lead at 10-9, capped by a 2-run double by Katie Claxon.
"They play hard," McBride said of his team. "I thought we could score some runs, and the main thing is that they thought they could score more runs. When you're playing the game, you have to believe you can do it."
Just as Triton had battled back, Wawasee did the same a half inning later, leading to the exciting win.
"It was nice to see us fight back the way we did," Schutz said.
Wawasee takes it 2-1 record into tonight's game at West Noble, while Triton will look to get into the win column when Argos comes to town Saturday for a doubleheader.
"We've improved, but we have a long way to go yet," McBride said of his 0-2 squad. "We're working on it."
WAWASEE 12, TRITON 10
W 105 102 3 - 12 10 1
T 001 414 0 - 10 13 2
Jonna Wiggs (W, 1-0) and Miranda Kaufman; Bethany Kern (L, 0-2) and Katie Claxon.
