Whiteland took advantage of Franklin’s mistakes to score five runs in the first then played add-on in the later innings to pull away for a 9-6 win in softball Wednesday in Franklin.
The visiting Warriors collected five hits in that crucial first inning and those, coupled with two dropped fly balls by Franklin fielders, allowed Whiteland to cruise out to a 5-0 lead.
The Grizzly Cubs battled back and closed to within 7-4 after five innings, but Addi Csikos’ two-run home run in the top of the sixth put the game away and broke the Warriors’ seven-game losing streak.
“We just put the ball in play and made them make mistakes,” Whiteland coach Katie Mitchell said. “I thought we were aggressive on the basepaths and did a nice job.”
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Whiteland (3-12, 2-6 Mid-State) pounded Franklin pitcher Rilee King in the opening inning. Four of the first five Warriors reached on hits, with Lindsey Boltz’s RBI triple the big blow. Back-to-back dropped fly balls by the Cubs allowed Whiteland to increase its lead.
Whiteland added a run in the second on a Csikos RBI single but King settled into a groove after that, setting down eight of the next nine batters.
“We talked before the game about how the wind was going to play havoc and we needed to make sure that we were going after everything,” Franklin coach Lisa Whitlow-Hill said of the steady wind out to center field. “Those five runs just killed us. We outhit them after the first and outscored them, but we also out-errored them.”
Franklin (3-13, 1-7) began chipping away in the fourth. Using bunts to put the Whiteland defense on its heels, the Cubs scored on sacrifices by Bostyn Parkhurst and Kendyl Harrison to cut the lead to 6-2.
After Whiteland scored a run in the fifth on an Allie Watson RBI single, Izzy Harrison blasted a two-run home run to center in the bottom half of the inning to pull Franklin to within 7-4.
But Csikos’ homer in the sixth ended Franklin’s comeback hopes. The Grizzly Cubs did get two runs in the seventh thanks to three Whiteland errors, but those weren’t enough.
Other than the seventh-inning meltdown, Whiteland played fantastic defense throughout the game, getting a diving catch by Watson in left field and a running catch in foul territory by Haylee Mathena at third base, both in the sixth. Catcher Madison Margraf also snagged a foul ball while still in her crouch in the fifth.
“We had a lot of hustle plays, a diving catch by Allie Watson in left field, a couple of foul balls that were caught that kept foul balls from scoring,” Mitchell said. “It was a good all-around team win.”
Margraf, Csikos and Jordan Smith each collected three hits to lead Whiteland while Baylee Parker went 4 for 4 with a triple and a run scored for Franklin, while King smashed a pair of doubles and scored twice.
Delanie Gourley (1-5) picked up her first win of the season for Whiteland in the circle.
Whiteland’s next test will be a tough one when the Warriors travel to Class 3A No. 4 New Palestine on Friday. Franklin travels to Rushville for two games on Saturday.
