Coming off their second loss of the season last Friday, May 1 against Fennimore, the Wauzeka-Steuben Softball team entered last week looking to avoid their first losing streak of the season.
First up for the Hornets was a non-conference game against the Cashton Eagles last Tuesday, May 5. The Hornets took an early 3-0 lead after scoring solo runs in each of the first three innings before Cashton got on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the fourth inning. W-S added another run in the fourth and fifth innings to extend their lead to 5-1 before the Eagles added one final run in the top of the sixth inning as the Hornets held on for the 5-2 win.
Brianna Ray (one run allowed on one hit and two walks with 12 strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched) started in the pitchers circle and earned the win with Devyn Allert (one run allowed on one hit and one walk in 2.0 innings pitched) covering the last two innings.
The Hornets offense was held to five total hits, but four of those five hits ended up going for extra bases. Isabella Bunders (2-for-3 with a double, triple, a walk, two runs scored and one RBI) led the Hornet hitters. Ray (1-for-4 with a double and one RBI), Allert (1-for-2 with a walk and one RBI) and Molli Hooker (1-for-3 with a double and one run scored) rounded out the Hornet offense.
W-S traveled to North Crawford last Thursday afternoon and came back with a 19-2 win in five innings. The Hornets got out of the gate quickly, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. The Trojans cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. From there on out it was all Hornets, as they outscored the Trojans 15-0 in the final three innings with one run in the third, 10 runs in the fourth and four runs in the fifth.
Ray (two runs allowed on three hits and six walks with 10 strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched) earned the pitching victory for the Hornets. W-S clobbered 18 hits by nine different players in the win including five players having multiple hits in the game. Abby Wright led the way by going 3-for-3 with a home run, two walks, four runs scored and two RBIs). Other Hornets with multiple hits in the game included Bunders (2-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs), Ray (3-for-4 with two doubles, one walk and two RBIs), Elyse Sims (3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs) and Alayna Krachey (2-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and three RBIs). W-S also got hits from Allert (1-for-4 with two runs scored), Stella Walz (1-for-1 with one RBI), Madyson Schambow (1-for-2 with one walk, one run scored and one RBI) and Avery Kilburg (1-for-3 with a double, one run scored and two RBIs).
The Hornets concluded the week last Friday afternoon when they hosted La Farge. The two teams first concluded their suspended game from April 23. The game had been suspended in the third inning with the Hornets leading 6-1. The score remained the same until the top of the seventh when the Hornets scored three times to take a 9-1 lead. The Wildcats added one run of their own in the bottom of the seventh but it wasn’t enough as the Hornets held on for the 9-2 win.
Once again it was Ray (one run allowed on three hits and zero walks with three strikeouts in 2.0 innings pitched) earning the pitching win. Allert (one run allowed on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched) finished the game pitching for the Hornets.
The Hornets offense produced 14 hits in the game with eight of those hits being extra base hits by seven different players. Five Hornets had multiple hits in the win. They were Bunders (2-for-4 with a home run, one walk, two runs scored and two RBIs), Allert (3-for-4 with a triple and one run scored), Sims (2-for-4 with a double, one run scored and one RBI), Schambow (2-for-3 with a double, a triple and one run scored) and Hooker (2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs). Avery Killburg (1-for-3 with a double, one run scored and one RBI) and Krachey (1-for-4 with a triple and one RBI) each had a hit in the win.
Following the conclusion of the suspended game, the two teams played their originally scheduled game and it was all Hornets as the hosts used two runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in the fourth and four in the fifth inning to defeat the Wildcats 10-0 in five innings. Ray (zero runs allowed on two hits and zero walks with 12 strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched) earned the complete game shutout. The Hornets offense kept rolling along, producing 12 hits by five different players. Bunders 4-for-4 with two triples, three runs scored and two RBIs) paced the W-S offense. Also having a multi-hit game in the win was Ray (2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and three RBIs), Allert (2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI), Hooker (2-for-3) and Krachey (2-for-3 with two runs scored).
Wauzeka-Steuben (8-2 overall, 7-0 in the Ridge & Valley Conference) began this week by traveling to Seneca on Monday and hosting Brookwood yesterday before hosting a doubleheader against fellow conference unbeaten Ithaca-Weston in a showdown that will go a long way in determining the conference championship. The Hornets wrap up this week on Friday when they host Seneca at 5:00 p.m.
