Bottom of lineup sparks Lady Pioneers to 11-0 win
ROGERSVILLE — One of the key ingredients to the success for the West Greene softball team over the last four seasons has been the depth in their lineup.
One through nine, there was no easy outs.
The Lady Pioneers are still counting on that depth in the middle and bottom of the lineup, as their No. 5 through 9 hitters had six of their 11 hits in a 10-0 victory in six innings over Jefferson-Morgan Wednesday at Rice Energy Park.
“We always want to set the tone early and we knew this was a key section game,” West Greene coach Billy Simms said. “We came out hard and got that early lead. That early lead took some wind out of their sails and gave us the momentum. Our whole lineup made contributions and we have a lot of hidden gems that can get those big hits for us.”
McKenna Lampe, Jade Renner, Brianna Amos and Jersey Wise all had a pair of hits for the Lady Pioneers (3-0, 6-3) in the key Section 2-A win.
“We knew this was a big, section game,” Wise said. “They are our county rivals. They have a good pitcher with a good defense. We had to keep our composure and just play the way we usually do.”
Renner was effective in the circle for West Greene, tossing a one-hitter over six innings with a season-high 12 strikeouts and a walk on 88 pitches.
“Jade had it going today,” Simms said. “Her riser was working and she was spotting her change-up on the outside corner. She is just a versatile pitcher, she can pitch to contact or she could wind it up and get some strikeouts. She had a very good outing today.”
The Lady Rockets (3-1, 4-3) had two on base with two outs in the top of the first inning after Brynn Boyd drew a walk and Autumn Gustovich reached base on a wild pitch after a strikeout.
Renner was able to get out of the inning with a foul out to the catcher.
“It would have been nice to get a run in the first inning,” J-M coach Rich Rush said. “But we didn’t and it’s tough to play catch-up against them. West Greene is an elite team and they hit the ball unlike most teams we will see this spring. But, I was happy we didn’t let this game get out of hand and we did extend the game to six innings.”
West Greene sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and plated six runs.
McKenna Lampe started the offense with a bunt single and on the same play was able to reach third base after a couple of miscues by the visitors’ infield.
Kaitlyn Rizor had a RBI ground out two batters later, and the Lady Pioneers pushed the lead to 3-0 after back-to-back RBI singles by Renner and Amos.
The big hit in the frame was a three-run double by No. 9 hitter Kylie Simms.
“As her father, I guess I’m harder on her than most,” coach Simms said. “That was a very good at-bat and proved to be a big hit to make it 6-0. She kept with it and got some foul balls. She was able to put her front foot down and drove that pitch to the outfield.”
West Greene increased its lead to 8-0 in the second inning after a two-run homer by Amos.
“It was on the first pitch and I was looking for that big hit,” Amos said. “I kind of thought it might be good to put a home run swing on it, and I just found the right pitch and things worked for me in that at-bat. I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it.”
Lampe started the third inning for the home team with a triple and crossed home plate after a sacrifice fly by her sister Madison to make it 9-0.
Gustovich broke up the no-hitter by Renner with a hard-hit, one-out single in the fourth, but that base runner was quickly erased with back-to-back strikeouts. Through the final three innings, Renner struck out nine of the 11 batters she faced.
“I would have liked to see us get more than that one hit,” Rush said. “We just had to put the ball in play more. Sometimes I think Jade is in their heads and we just can’t hit her. I think she’s in a lot of teams’ head. She has great control and we got behind in counts.”
West Greene invoked the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run by Wise.
“I was ahead of the count and coach Simms told me to just wait on my pitch,” Wise said. “We know everyone has a role. You just do your role and try not to overthink things in the field. This lineup is strong and you just have to do your part to get the line-up going.”
Caitlyn Dugan was tagged with the loss for J-M.
Both teams play Mapletown next. The Lady Pioneers travel to Mapletown today and J-M hosts the Lady Maples on Friday.