LAGRANGE – Whitko had just about everything go its way in a 13-2 softball sectional win over host Lakeland Monday afternoon. The Lady Wildcats used RBI doubles from Kennedy Krull and Aly Nicodemus in their four-run third inning to expand its lead to 5-0. After tacking on a single run in the fourth, Whitko grouped together three singles and a pair of stolen bases to add two runs in the sixth inning, then removed all doubt about the outcome with a five-run seventh frame. Meanwhile, sophomore Hanna Yohe turned in a solid pitching performance, going the distance and striking out seven while allowing only five base-runners in the convincing win. About the only thing that didn’t go Whitko’s way was in the bottom of the seventh, when an error and a wind-aided home run from Lakeland’s Mattea Holton took away the shutout for Yohe. “We had three goals today: stay focused the entire time, make our at-bats count and for Hanna to pitch ahead (in the count),” Whitko head coach Michele Garr said. “For the most part I think we accomplished those from start to finish.” In addition to the run-scoring double, Krull was also quite busy at shortstop, recording six putouts, including the last two of the game. “Kennedy can move side-to-side well, and teamed with Haley Yohe, we had a strong up-the-middle defense behind Hanna today,” Garr said. The head coach said since school is out for Whitko students, she and her coaching staff are working to keep the players in a routine. “We’re trying to keep it as normal as possible,” she said. “We’re telling the girls ‘hey, get up at a decent time.’” “Like today, we normally eat breakfast together before a Saturday game. And the restaurant where we normally eat was closed for the holiday, so we had a cookout out in the parking lot, just so we could keep that routine.” Whitko moves on to play West Noble, which upset NorthWood 2-1 in the second game of the day. The Lady Chargers will go into tonight’s 7 p.m. game with a 5-17 mark against Whitko’s 15-7 record. Garr saw a good portion of the upset, and said her squad wouldn’t look past West Noble and into Thursday’s sectional championship game. “We don’t take anyone for granted because we’re tired of getting taken for granted,” she said.
