Center Grove had a slew of players making their varsity softball debuts on Tuesday, but if the newcomers were feeling any nervousness, they hid it well.
Sophomores Ashlynn Wolff and Payton Shimanksy each drove in three runs, with Wolff delivering a what proved to be a key two-run double in the fifth inning as the Trojans held on for a 7-6 triumph over Whiteland in the season opener for both squads.
“When I’m in pressure situtations, I feel like if I come in clutch everyone’s going to cheer me on, so I just got up there and wasn’t nervous at all and I just hit the ball,” said Wolff, who also had an RBI double in the fourth inning.
The Warriors jumped on top in the first inning when Haley Wilkerson was hit by a pitch, Jordan Smith doubled and Halle Nett knocked both in with a two-out base hit to right center against Center Grove starter Alexis Rudd.
After leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, the Trojans drew even in the second. After an infield single by Abbi Patton and a two-out walk by Hannah Haberstroh, Shimansky drove a double to center off Whiteland hurler Debbie Hill that plated both runners.
“They got the upper hand, but we knew we were going to come back,” Center Grove coach Alyssa Coleman said. “Each inning, we had pressure on them, so I knew we were going to break through.”
An error enabled Emma Piercy to score from third for Whiteland in the fourth inning, and the visitors appeared set to add to the lead when Wilkerson ripped a double to the wall in left center, but the Trojans were able to cut down Tara Watson at the plate for the third out.
Center Grove tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by Wolff, who later scored on a Shimansky sacrifice fly to give the Trojans the lead.
It held up, but not without some heavy pressure from the Warriors.
Whiteland loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but reliever Gracie Henson got a forceout at the plate on a fielder’s choice and a flyout to center field. Having dodged a bullet, Center Grove then stretched the margin out with three runs in the home half of the inning.
Lex Warner and Henson reached base leading off the frame to set the stage for Wolff’s two-bagger to left center. Wolff later scored on a wild pitch to make it a 7-3 game.
Scoring those three runs immediately after snuffing out a Whiteland threat was the turning point, according to Coleman.
“That was huge in letting us know that we can make the pitching change and we have a few to give,” she said. “Especially knowing that Gracie’s never stepped on our mound before. (Patton) and Alexis both, they haven’t had a max amount of time. So I was concerned about how they would respond, and I thought they were smooth as can be.”
But the Warriors never flinched. Wilkerson drove a two-run homer to straightaway center in the sixth inning, chasing Henson from the game, but Patton came on in relief and extinguished the rally, helped out by an inning-ending grab in right field from Sydney McConnell with a runner on second.
Whiteland made another push in the seventh, with freshman Josslynn Harbert ripping a double down the left-field line to score Piercy with two out. Patton, though, was able to finish things off with a strikeout, stranding Wilkerson in the on-deck circle.
Though her team came up a run short, Warriors coach Katie Mitchell says she and her players came in confident, and they left feeling no differently.
“We were looking to beat them, and we do plan to later in the season,” Mitchell said. “I was really proud of the way our girls pieced together every part of the lineup. Everyone was involved. Debbie Hill threw a great game, Haley Wilkerson behind the plate was unstoppable, and we’re just looking forward to piecing it together better as we go forward.”
Wilkerson, Hill, Piercy and Harbert each had two of the Warriors’ 10 hits. Wolff, Shimansky and Warner had two hits apiece for the Trojans, who totaled nine.
Rudd struck out eight in her four innings of work for Center Grove. Hill fanned six for Whiteland.
