Waubonsie Valley shows good timing
Momentum swings are an obvious part of softball or any sport, and they were evident Friday when the Metea Valley softball team played host to Waubonsie Valley.
The Warriors' momentum swings came at opportune times, and they went home 9-3 winners.
"We started off real strong and then we hit a couple of lulls and they tied it at 3," said Waubonsie coach Val Wood. "Metea put the ball in play today and I told the team that (the Mustangs) came to play."
The Warriors (15-5, 8-1 Upstate Eight Conference Valley) scored twice in the first inning. Layne Thresh started the game with a walk and moved into scoring position on Jordan Kurth's sacrifice bunt.
That set the stage for Amanda Lack, who with two outs and an 0-2 count, deposited the ball over the center-field fence. It was her second homer of the year. She hit her third in the fifth inning.
"I fouled three times my first at-bat. I was beginning to feel the timing of her pitching and (Metea starting pitcher Jenna Hall is) a good pitcher," Lack said. "I was happy I could come through for my team."
The Mustangs (3-13, 2-7) scored in their half of the first when leadoff hitter Alise Perna reached on a fielding error, moved to second on Lisa Harrington's sacrifice bunt and was later brought home on Kara Leckinger's double to left.
Waubonsie added a run in the third when Audria Wagenknecht led off the inning with an infield hit bunt, stole second, moved to third on a walk and scored on a wild pitch.
Metea's strongest showing occurred in the third when it scored twice to tie the game. Perna singled to left and Harrington again made good on a sacrifice bunt to put her in scoring position and she took third on Leckinger's groundball out.
That set the stage for Megan Arcivar, who sent a 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a 2-run blast. The fifth inning saw Lack's second homer, a 2-run shot, that scored Melaina Koulos, who had doubled to right. Following the homer, Shannon Hohman walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sabrina Calabrese's double.
Waubonsie struck for 3 runs again in the sixth. A 2-run single by Lack and an RBI basehit by Meghan Grannan scored the runs.
Hohman was the winning pitcher. She allowed five hits and struck out four in getting the complete-game victory.
Metea battled until the end, putting runners on first and third in the seventh before the game ended.
"We hit the ball well and hung with them. Unfortunately, we get caught up with momentum swings. We didn't finish as well as we started," said Metea coach Kris Kalivas. "We're young and inexperienced. Every day they learn something new. I can't fault their effort. They come to play every day."
Friday was a Cancer Awareness Game. Pink softballs were used, both teams wore special jerseys and money was raised for the Smashing Walnuts Foundation in the battle against childhood brain cancer.