SOFTBALL: No. 10 Winamac rallies past Pioneer in 7th

Class 2A No. 10 Winamac scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and held on for an 8-6 win at Pioneer in softball Monday.

The Warriors trailed 6-5 entering the seventh. Maggie Keller doubled and Trinity Harlan followed with a single to start the rally. With runners on second and third and one out, Brody Goodman hit a go-ahead two-run single. A two-out Pioneer error allowed a third run to score.

Ava Ott and Lois Layer had back-to-back singles to put two runners on for the Panthers with one out in the bottom of the seventh. But Adrianna Hall dialed up back-to-back fly outs to end the game.

The contest was scoreless through the first three innings before the offenses picked up.

Keller led the Warriors (7-1, 2-0 HNAC) by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Brooke Rausch had a double, single and three RBIs. Kylie Fisher had a double. Hall and Corrine Ulerick each had a single and RBI.

Rausch got the start for Winamac and allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits in 3 2/3 innings. Hall allowed two runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Layer went 3-for-3 with an RBI for Pioneer (2-4, 0-1). Ott had two hits. Hallie Lebo had a double. Addison Kennell and Averi Layer each had a single and RBI. Madyson Shaffer and Ava Bell each added a single and run scored.

Layer allowed eight runs (four earned) on nine hits with five strikeouts in seven innings.

“It was a very competitive game,” Pioneer coach John Bingaman said. “We had the tying run on base. We just couldn’t capitalize. We couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it in the bottom of the seventh.”

It was the Panthers’ first game in nine days.

“I was a little concerned we hadn’t played since April 11th,” Bingaman said. “We didn’t play all last week at all, so I was a little concerned about how we would respond. We hadn’t seen much live pitching, but I thought we handled it OK offensively.”

The Warriors are back in the top 10 in Class 2A and they are the defending HNAC champions. It was their second straight win over the Panthers. Winamac coach Jennifer Belcher recently picked up her 400th career win.

“Coach Belcher does a great job at Winamac,” Bingaman said. “She always has her teams prepared, so they’re usually not gonna beat themselves. They have pretty good pitching. They hit the ball very well. So that’s always one of the top teams in our conference.”

It’s been a tough run for the Panthers just because they haven’t played much. And it’s also in the manner of which their games were postponed last week in which they would be ready to play before a heavy downpour of rain would cause the postponement. They had five games postponed in a matter of six days last week.

That will lead to a very busy week this week.

“We don’t have much time to be in misery about this because we play Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and two Saturday,” Bingaman said. “We’ve got the pitchers that can do that. We’ve just got to get a little more consistency in our game. That’s what we’re looking for.”