Whiteland celebrates after Maddy Myers’ home run in the top of the third at Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
A chilling, stifling wind was blowing straight in from center field to home plate at Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon, leading at least one spectator to comment that anyone who could hit a ball over the fence would really have to earn it.
Maddy Myers wasn’t quite sure how she conquered the elements, but she did.
Whiteland’s senior catcher clobbered a two-run homer in the third inning, part of an eight-run avalanche that helped the visiting Warriors roll to an 18-0 victory against the Lancers.
“I started jogging, not because I thought it was out, but I thought it was caught,” Myers said. “I was like, ‘There’s no way,’ but sure enough, somehow.”
The Warriors’ big third inning started innocently enough, with freshman hurler Jordyn Crouch getting grazed by a pitch. Courtesy runner Alexis Tobolski then stole second and took second on a wild pitch. After Kylie Matthews walked, Josslyn Harbert powered a base hit to left that scored Tobolski with the first run of the game; Matthews then scored when the ball got past the outfielder, with Harbert advancing to second.
With one out, Kiley Sullivan reached on a two-base error that plated Harbert, and Myers followed by clubbing a MacKenzie Bieker offering over the fence in left center, giving Whiteland a 5-0 cushion.
After struggling against Bieker the first trip through the lineup, the Warriors clearly figured some things out the second time.
“We made adjustments; we weren’t going to let it happen twice,” Whiteland coach Harley Roller said. “That leadership kind of shows; the ones that have been here made the adjustments quick, and we didn’t get through the lineup twice with the same mistakes.”
“That’s a common theme with us,” Myers added. “It always takes us a minute to get in there, but once we get in that flow it’s just one after the other.”
A walk to Gracee Whitaker and consecutive base hits by Makenna Reed and Annie Harmon loaded the bases, and free passes to Crouch and Matthews pushed two more runs across. An RBI fielder’s choice by Harbert scored Harmon from third to make it an 8-0 margin before reliever Eloise Cox recorded the final out of the frame.
That was more than enough of a cushion for Crouch, who was stellar in her varsity debut. The southpaw struck out eight Edinburgh batters while allowing just two hits and a walk.
“She was solid,” Roller said of Crouch. “She stayed composed, even in some sticky counts, so it was great to see her come out strong and I look forward to seeing what she does the rest of the season.”
Whiteland scored one more run in the top of the fourth when Sullivan led off with a base hit, stole second and came in on a single by Whitaker, and iced it with a nine-run fifth. Matthews brought Crouch home with a bunt single to trigger the mercy rule, and Sullivan put the game completely out of reach when she delivered a three-run double and then scored on a Myers groundout.
Joslynn Skaggs and Crouch added RBI singles and another run came in on an error before a popout brought the inning to a merciful end. Crouch set the Lancers down in order in the bottom of the frame to close the game out. Harbert, Sullivan, Whitaker and Harmon each finished the day with two hits for the Warriors.
Cox and Kenna Streeval had the only hits for Edinburgh, which will try to shake off the lopsided defeat before upcoming games against two more Class 4A opponents in Columbus East and Franklin.
“The girls know my expectations are the same every year,” Lancers coach Ben Taylor said. “We start off with 4A (opponents) for a reason … we take it on the chin and we try to figure out things that we’ve got to work on. We still have some girls that are not very experienced softball players out there getting some good work. That’s the intent. We start off strong, and … the schedule becomes a bit easier.”
