WAUSA—TheWausa18ssoftballteamsplititsmostrecent twogames,losing10-8tothePonca18sonMay22andbeating the Hartington 18s 14-3 on May 20.
Against Ponca, Wausa started off the game by giving up a six-spot in the first inning, and it was an uphill climb from there as Wausa continued its 2024 season.
“Digging an early hole was the unfortunate theme of the night,” Wausa head coach Shelbey West said. “It’s a good learning tool to use early in the season, but we don’t want to make a habit of it, especially against teams like Ponca.”
She noted one thing she and her assistant coaches will preach going forward is “minimizing the damage.”
“We have to keep the blow-up inning from happening,” West said. “Yes, we’re going to give up runs here and there, but insteadofthatnumberbeingsixlikeitwas,wehavetofindways to keep it at two or three so that it’s not as daunting of a task.
“But we’ll learn from it, and hopefully it betters us for tough games down the road,” she said. “It’s just a tough pill to swallow when you walk away feeling like you beat yourself more so than the other team beat you.”
Wausa scored one run in the first frame, another in the second stanza, four in the third inning and two in the final frame to fall just shy of the comeback,losing 10-8.
Addi Sporleder, Olivia Barta and Peyton Privett each collected two hits for Wausa on the night. Offensively, Wausa as a team collected nine hits and 10 stolen bases, though Ponca out-hit Wausa 15 to 9 for the game.
“I like how we are becoming a great offensive team,” West said. “We are so aggressive on the bases this season, and we havebeenhittingtheballextremelywell.Theproblemis,when we score eight runs on nine hits and steal as many bases as we do, we have got to win those games.”
Sienna West received the start on the mound for Wausa, throwingacompletegame,strikingouttwoandwalkingthree.
“IthinkweallknowSiennamaybedidn’thaveherbeststuff,” Wausa assistant coach Capp Bengston said. “What I liked to see was how hard she competed after giving up six in the first inning. A lot of girls would’ve been down in the dumps after that, but Sienna’s attitude never changed. She competed all game and gave us a shot to win it; that’s all you can ask of her.
“Pitchers aren’t going to have their best night in and night out,”hesaid.“Onnightslikethese,youjusthavetobecraftyon themoundandhopetogetrunsupportfromyourteam,which she did. I was proud of how they all responded to adversity.”
Against Hartington, Wausa rolled with a convincing 14-3 win.
Privett came to play, recording three hits in the leadoff spot forWausa.Sheledoffthegamewithadoubleinherfirstat-bat, and that created a theme for the rest of the lineup.
A double by Privett, a double by Sienna West, a double by Abby Kaiser and a single by Caitlin Eckert led to five total runs in the first inning. And it was all Wausa from there.
“You could really tell before the game that the girls were locked in and ready to go,” Shelbey West said. “I just had a feeling that we would come out and play well. After the three doubles in the first inning, the energy in the dugout was as high as I’ve seen it in a while.”
Sienna West doubled again in the second inning, nearly hitting the fence, to score another Wausa run. RBI singles by Privett and Barta in the third inning scored another pair of runs,eventuallyleadingtothevictoryoverHartington.Wausa out-hit Hartington 11 to 3 on the night.
Barta threw a gem on the mound, keeping the Hartington offense quiet all night. She pitched a complete game for Wausa, allowing just three runs with eight strikeouts and just three walks.
“Liv came out locked in from the start,” Wausa assistant coachJaredWiebelhaussaid.“Shehadgreatcontrolmostofthe night, was able to work in different pitches at times and really just kept the Hartington offense out of rhythm all night long.”
Shelbey West noted Wausa was just tough defensively all evening against Hartington.
“We didn’t make any great plays, but we made the plays that we should and Liv did more than her part to help us win that game,” the head coach said. “When you play as hard as the girls did, the game tends to reward you for it. That’s exactly what I saw. The girls played incredibly hard and they were rewarded for it.”
Wausa, 2-1 on the season as of May 28, was scheduled to play at Verdigre on May 28 and is set to host Hartington on May 30, followed by the Northeast Nebraska Invitational May 31-June 2 in Norfolk.
