Published: May 20, 2008 12:31 am         

Lady Spartans, cold weather no match for Lady Warriors

Winamac advances to face 2A No. 6 Boone Grove.

WINAMAC — It didn’t take long for the Winamac softball team’s bats to heat up on a cool May night Monday.

The Lady Warriors scored four runs in the first inning and those runs were all they needed as they defeated the North Newton Spartans 7-2.

Leadoff hitter Whitlee Scott started things off with a single and a stolen base. Two batters later catcher Cortney Brandt hit a double to center field to put runners at the corners. Shortstop Erika Redweik brought home both with a single to center field. After stealing second, Redweik advanced to third on a single by Kayla Parish. Next Batter Hope Bradbury hit a two-out double to drive in two more runs.

The Warriors (19-8) would add two more runs in the second inning and another in the third.

In the top of the fourth, North Newton got a spark with a solo home run by shortstop Jessica Kibler that slammed off of the center field scoreboard. Unfortunately for the Spartans, they would be unable to gather any sort of momentum.

North Newton’s hitters put the bat on the ball but failed to find holes in the defense. North Newton coach Rande Bielenberg had some thoughts on the subject. “We hit the ball a lot tonight but just couldn’t find the openings. We did get on base but made little errors that got us here or there.”

North Newton finishes the season with a record of 11-13. Bielenberg is optimistic for the future as the Lady Spartans only lose three seniors to graduation.

“We have been improving for the last three years and with losing only two starters, we are going to continue to improve.”

The Lady warriors received a solid pitching performance from their two aces Rachel Younger and Whitlee Scott. Younger went four innings and Scott relieved her for the final three.

Winamac Coach Jenny Belcher was pleased with the way her team started the game by providing some runs for her pitchers.

“I thought it was important for us to come out and score some runs early. I thought Whitlee and Rachel pitched really well,” Belcher said.

Winamac will face Class 2A No. 6 Boone Grove a Sectional 34 semifinal Wednesday night.

Coach Belcher had this final thought: “Boone Grove is a good team. They have a good pitcher and play good defense. Hopefully if we come out and play the way we can play, we will see a good ballgame Wednesday night.”