Warriors Opportunistic In Win [VIDEO]
BOURBON – Eventually, mistakes will catch up to a softball team.
Four Triton errors in the field and several pitches over the middle of the plate gave Wawasee more than enough opportunities to put the ball in motion during an 8-2 win at Keyser Field Saturday morning.
Triton pitcher Mallorie Jennings looked like she had magic in her mitt early on, working out of a jam in the first and then loading the bases with no outs in the second, but getting Wawasee’s next two batters out without any harm. The magic rabbit then hopped across the park when Wawasee’s Amber Lemberg then hit a roller toward third which rolled under the mitt of Zoee Stephan, scoring two. The Triton magic seemed to end after that play.
Two Triton errors in the fourth allowed Wawasee to plate another run, and a throwing error on a sacrifice attempt in the fifth helped Wawasee plate two more runs as the wheels began to fall off for Triton in the field.
“We knew we were going to play a good team and it’s a long season,” offered Triton head coach Steve McBride. “Our pitching is fine. Our hitting is fine. We have to clean up our defense. If we do that, we will be a good team. We just had errors. But we made some good plays, too.”
Wawasee added some thunder in the seventh as Kylee Rostochak and Meghan Fretz hit consecutive doubles then Alli Ousley mashed a bomb to right field, clearing the fence for her first homer of the season.
Fretz was three-for-three at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored. Ousley, who drove in the game winner Friday night against Manchester, added two hits and two RBIs. Danielle Gunkel and Cristina DeLaFuente also added a pair of hits.
Jennings did not throw poorly, allowing just two earned runs and striking out five, but did walk two and didn’t have the help behind her. Wawasee touched up reliever Brycelyn Garbison for five hits and three earned runs in the final two innings.
“The girls have been playing really well and we have been hitting the ball really well,” said Wawasee head coach Jared Knipper. “We hit the ball hard and found the gaps. They played small ball along with a power game. It’s been a nice balance for us.”
Baserunning was not sharp from either team Saturday as Wawasee ran themselves into four outs, two of which were between third and home. Triton also fell victim to baserunning errors, one ending a rally in the fifth when Sellers doubled home Garbison to cut the lead to 5-2, but was thrown out at third to end the inning despite claims of being interfered with in the basepath. Triton also was doubled off at first to end the game.
Sellers would lead Triton’s offense with two hits and a walk.
“They were a good team and we needed to face a good team,” McBride said. “Anyone can play good defense when you are up 5-0 in the first inning. They needed to play in a pressure cooker for a change. I like the way our kids competed even though we had a couple mental errors.”
Wawasee, now 5-1 on the season, will jump into Northern Lakes Conference play Monday at Warsaw while Triton, falling to 4-1, will host Knox in Northern State Conference action Monday.
“We don’t take anyone lightly, I don’t care who they are,” Knipper said. “We come and try to play our best ball game and whatever is going to happen can happen. They have a lot of confidence going in and are having a lot of fun. We just hope to keep rolling next week.”