Softball: Wapakoneta dominates Allen East for second win
Mar. 26—WAPAKONETA — Two days into the new softball season, everything seems to be clicking for Wapakoneta.
The Redskins (2-0) followed up a 20-1 win over Spencerville on Monday night with another dominant five-inning victory on Tuesday night, 16-1 over Allen East (0-2).
Against the Mustangs, Wapakoneta struck for seven runs in the second inning and nine more in the fifth, getting a hit from six different players and a two-hit performance from Kylie Behr, the starting centerfielder who bats at the bottom of the order.
Wapakoneta coach Bill Sammons said that the key to his team's fast start has been contributions from his younger players, and offensive balance throughout the lineup.
"We have two freshmen in the lineup and they're both stepping up and doing really well," he said. "Our leaders are leading the team and everyone else is following. So far, so good. We're just hoping we can keep this going during this gauntlet of seven games in five days."
Wapakoneta finishes the first week of the season with a home game against Margaretta and three straight road games, one at Marion Local on Thursday and a doubleheader on Saturday at Parkway.
After stringing together 23 hits on Monday, the Redskins scored runs in bunches against Allen East on just eight hits.
Aubryn Schnarre and Emily Vanhorn each drove in three runs, while Alisha Holtzapple and Kylie Behr both collected a pair of RBI.
Wapakoneta's high-scoring start is something that Sammons says is a reflection of how they've spent their practice time and what his team hopes to be known for this season.
"It's something we emphasize every day and we probably even do too much hitting, but above all, we're hoping for quality at-bats," he said. "Sometimes that's not a base hit. It can also be a good long plate appearance and that's what they had tonight."
Allen East led 1-0 until the bottom of the second inning when Wapakoneta's bats came alive and manufactured a seven-run rally. Aaliyah Young had three hits and scored one run for the Mustangs. Taylor Nickles drove in Young on an RBI single in the top of the first inning.
From that point on, Addison Fisher put together a masterful performance inside the circle for Wapakoneta. She struck out nine batters in a five-inning complete game and allowed one earned run on four hits.
"She's come a long way," Sammons said of Fisher. "Her Dad has revamped her pitching style in the last three or four weeks, so she's basically focusing on fundamentals. She's not doing anything special, it's just her being smooth in her motion and it's working out really well for her."
Aaliyah Young was charged with the loss after allowing six earned runs on five hits in three innings.
Allen East also finished the game with three errors.
Box score (r-h-e)
Allen East 10000XX 1-4-3
Wapakoneta 07009XXX 16-8-0
Allen East 1 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Aaliyah Young 3-1-3-0, Ava Morris 3-0-0-0, Laura Wireman 2-0-0-0, Taylor Nickles 2-0-1-1, Alleyson DeCoursey 2-0-0-0, Savana Brooks 2-0-0-0, Aniya Prowant 1-0-0-0, Aubrey Young 2-0-0-0, Maddie Miller, 2-0-0-0, Totals: 19-1-4-1.
Wapakoneta 16 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Addison Fisher 3-2-1-1, Aubryn Schnarre 3-2-1-3, Emily Vanhorn 2-3-1-3, Kambrie Meier 2-1-1-1, Alisha Holtzapple 2-0-1-2, Kaelyn Long 0-0-0-0, Zoie Shaw 2-0-1-1, Ellie Prenger 2-2-0-0, Lydia Manger 2-2-0-1, Kylie Behr 3-2-2-2, Totals: 21-16-8-14.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so)
W — Addison Fisher 5.0-4-1-1-1-9
L — Aaliyah Young 3.0-5-9-6-4-1
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter at @Lima_Howell
