Community Effort For The Vikings
By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews
AKRON – Tippecanoe Valley dubbed Monday’s softball game as ‘Community Night’. Free admission. Free popcorn. Plenty of wind to keep the turbine spinning.
The Valley softball team decided to give back to the supporters.
The Vikings clubbed visiting NorthWood 22-4 Monday, Valley storming to a 10-run first inning and never looking back.
“I’ve told my girls that we’re going to start by being aggressive and we’re not going to stop,” stated Valley head coach Brittany Mathias moments after garnering her first career varsity coaching win. Mathias was hired to run the program last spring. “You stop being aggressive and you stop focusing. I can tell them we aren’t going to steal, and they’re just going to steal. They love the game, and that’s a big part of it, and that makes it fun for them.”
That was evident from the get-go. After Brayden Baney doubled to open the Valley first, she moved to third on a stolen base, then scored on a wild pitch. An infield single later by Macy Kirchenstien loaded the bases, which allowed Brittany Benn to bring home two with a base knock.
Baney added an RBI single in her next trip to the plate, and Corinna Stiles sent home two more with a single as Valley went back to zero on the inning frame, no double digits in the box.
“We’re comfortable with all of our hitters, so if we can just get someone on base, we feel like we are in a good position,” added Mathias.
Baney would add another double and end as one of four Vikings with three RBI on the night. Stiles had four hits, but two of those were bunts she beat out down the line. Stiles, Abby Bowers and Madi Smith all had three RBI as well, and all three scored three runs each.
Valley had seven players combine for 14 total hits and two more had at least a walk as Valley rolled to an opening win.
Across the diamond, NorthWood was desperately trying to stay afloat even after the disastrous first inning. Fresh off a lopsided loss Saturday at Bremen, the Panthers were hoping to find moments of improvement. It found some from parts of its lineup, led by three hits from Halle DeMien, who plated two of the visitor’s runs. Macy Lengacher, making her first-ever softball debut, drove in two runs with a nicely placed single in the third.
Ashlyn Brooke, who struggled with her command in the pitcher’s circle as NorthWood’s starter, would add an RBI single to knock in Lengacher in the third.
“Saturday we did the little things in not making any errors against Bremen, but my pitching staff has never pitched in a high school game,” said NorthWood head coach Mandy DeMien, whose team made three errors that accounted for 11 eventual runs. “A freshman and a sophomore pitching for the first time in this situation, and an infield basically in the same situation. Today was a lot like the Bremen game in the sense that we got through the lineup once then started to make some plays. But we got behind there, and then here, and that’s hard to do against good teams.”
Stiles limited NorthWood to four hits and three earned runs in her 2.1 innings of work, making way for Kirchenstien and Bowers to get some work in without the pressure.
Both teams have short turnarounds, NorthWood (0-2) scheduled to make its home debut Tuesday against Fairfield while Valley (1-0) will be home Wednesday to host South Bend RIley.