John Harris wasn’t exactly thrilled to have a bye in the first round of the Class 2A softball playoffs because it meant his red hot East Webster Lady Wolverines didn’t get to continue playing.
It made for some anxious moments leading up to the round two matchup against Belmont, but the Lady Wolverines certainly looked locked in for the series. EHWS came through with two dominant, run-rule wins over Belmont in round two of the playoffs and pushed on.
Liz Massey threw a stout performance in the circle in game one and the Lady Wolverines took advantage of some Belmont mistakes and also got some big hits in an 11-0 blowout in five innings.
EWHS got an early lead and kept it thanks to Massey’s big night. The senior was robotic in this one pounding the strike zone and going 5.0 dominant innings with five strikeouts in which she allowed just one runner to reach base and that came on a hit.
“You know offensively you don’t have to press because she’s going to keep you in the ball game. It’s easy to sit there and not get frustrated when you turn around and you still have a zero on the board,” Harris said. “Our strength is pitching and defense and you’ve got to buy into that.”
The offense got an early lead, too, which helped. EWHS scored four runs in the first inning as five of the first six walked and then Addison Edwards’ hit rolled through the glove of the third baseman with two outs to score to more and make it 4-0.
It wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Lady Wolverines broke through again on Emma Jennings’ RBI double. Abby Williams added another run to make it 6-0. The pressure was on in the fifth and Belmont folded under it as three-straight errors and three hits in the inning finished them off. Peyton Flora’s triple closed it.
“We got better at bats and finally started finding the barrel,” Harris said. “We’ve got to get better though.”
Flora led the way with a 2-for-3 night and had two RBI in the win. Hallie Beth Reed went 2-for-2 with a double and triple.
On Saturday, Belmont fought back. After EWHS scored three runs in the opening frame, Belmont answered with a run in the first and then tied the game up in the third inning at 3-3. But a seven-run fourth frame did in the home team as the Lady Wolverines put the foot on the gas with five more in the fifth to get a 15-4 win in six innings.
It was yet again a huge day at the plate for Lady Wolverine hitters as the bunch is locked in up and down the lineup. Five different players had two or more hits out of the 13 total with the juniors Flora and Reed having three hits each. Reed had two doubles in the game and drove in a game high four runs while Flora had a double and an RBI.
Jennings, Box and McKee all had two hits with Box and Mckee driving in three runs and both knocking doubles. Keely Jo McKnight finished with a triple and two runs driven in.
The wins improved the Lady Wolverines to an eye-popping 23-4 and they advance to round three this week. Pine Grove is the next team up for EWHS as the Panthers come in at an impressive 23-6 with series wins over O’Bannon and Myrtle. Game one of the series will be at Cumberland on Friday night at 6 p.m. with game two at Pine Grove on Saturday. An if necessary game three will take place next Monday at 6 p.m. in Cumberland.
