By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

LEBANON — The Lady Wave softball team competed against two great programs in a Friday Night double header under the lights at Armco Park on April 7. Greenville split the two games, claiming a walk-off win in game one and were run ruled in the second game.

Head coach Jerrod Newland said it was an overall fun day at the event. Different communities came out to show their support for their teams and the Lady Wave improved during these two games.

“What a great atmosphere down here today. Good win, 2-1, first game and got our butts kicked here today. Program day, we got better. This is why we’ll play in June,” Newland.

Greenville took on Lakota West, the reigning Division I State champions from last season, in game one.

In the top of the second inning, Lakota West got on the scoreboard first with a RBI double. The Lady Wave eventually responded with a RBI single from senior Kylie Hamm in the bottom of the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Newland sent senior Ashlyn Zimmer home, but was thrown out at the plate. Newland said in a game like they had to be aggressive with the runners that do get on.

“In games like this, when the ball goes in play you got to make things happen. It doesn’t go into play a lot. I know I pushed a lot today, but in these games I got to. You can’t string three hits together to win an inning,” Newland said.

The plan work in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior Ella McLear comes off the bench and gets on base for the Lady Wave to start the inning off. The run was driven in on a bunt by senior Skylar Fletcher.

The throw to first to try and get Fletcher out was wide by the Lakota West defense. Newland sent the runner home to pick up the 2-1 win. He said great teams find different ways to win and they won playing small ball, something they don’t do often.

Sophomore Zoey Burns was on the mound for all seven innings and racked up nine strikeouts. Newland said she was fantastic on the mound and her catcher, senior Alaina Baughn, was fantastic as well behind the plate.

The team then took on Lebanon next. The Lady Warriors opened up the game with three runs to go up 3-0 after the first inning. By the time the top of the fourth was over, Lebanon had a 8-0 lead.

Newland said they were facing a motivated Lebanon team that was coming off a loss in their first game of the event. Mix that with a few plays that worked in the Lady Warriors favor, they jumped out to the early lead.

Greenville made it a closer game in the next two innings. In the fourth, sophomore Kylar Arnett had a RBI sacrifice fly to get the Lady Wave on the scoreboard. In the fifth, Fletcher drove in another run. Burns got two more runs to score after Lebanon had an error.

Then things started to get out of hand as Lebanon scored 14 runs in the sixth inning. Newland said the team gave the Lady Warriors an extra out and they took advantage of it with their powerful hitting.

”Bottom line, 8-4 coming into the sixth and I’m still looking for outs. We’re right there and we gave them an extra out that inning. If we make that play, all of a sudden it’s right there. They hit the snot out of the ball. They hit it all fields,” Newland said.

The Lady Wave fell 22-4 in the second game. The team sent four pitchers to the mound. Newland said Hamm did a good job on the mound as she held Lebanon scoreless in the second and third innings. The game snowballed out of control when the Lady Warriors got extra chances at the plate.

Greenville is now 5-1 on the season. They will look to get back on track with a game at Stebbins on April 10. They will then host Stebbins on April 11 and then Covington on April 12. The games against Stebbins start at 5 p.m. while Covington will be a 4:45 p.m. first pitch.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]