Softball team receives 13 walks in opener
By Kevin Cunningham
Correspondent
Opening up the 2017 season for the Whippet baseball team was an away game at Beloit Turner. The matchup was anticipated as being tough, according to head coach Jim Pease, as Beloit Turner finished 2016 as the No. 3-ranked team in the state.
Coming into this year, Pease said Beloit Turner was once again ranked highly, but on April 1, there was no April Fool’s joke taking place on the baseball diamond with Whitewater coming up with a win.
In the second inning, the opposition scored the first two runs, making it a 2-0 deficit entering the fourth inning. Then, Whitewater responded with four runs to take the lead.
“We started out with Jason Curtis getting on in an error, and then we bunted and got on with another error,” Pease said. “We were on second and third and then Dylan Pease had an RBI single. Jacob Lee had a groundout to get the run in to tie the score. We eventually had first and third and then Alex Fero had a base hit to score a run and the last run was scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Niemuth.
“(The players) are very excited. They have some big expectations on themselves. Again, our goal is to just get better every game. I think both teams made some mistakes that were early season mistakes that both will clean up. I think it was two good teams playing and we just got the one extra run.”
In the sixth inning, Beloit Turner would score again, but that would conclude the scoring, sealing the 4-3 season-opening win. Pease talked about that sixth inning and how Beloit Turner had the bases loaded with one out and only got one run.
The defense and pitching helped shut the inning down, as Curtis pitched all seven innings for the Whippets.
“His performance was pretty good,” Pease said. “I didn’t think he had all the stuff he normally has since it was his first outing, but, he battled and just pounded the strike zone. Defensively, we played really well. We had one error, but otherwise, we made all the plays and played really well.”
The next game for the Whippets is slated to begin at 4:45 p.m. on April 6 at Palmyra-Eagle High School. Following that contest, the team then has a tournament scheduled for April 7 and April 8 in the Wisconsin Dells with games being played at the Woodside Sports Complex.
On April 7, the Whippets play at 4:30 p.m. and on April 8, have games scheduled for 11:15 a.m. and 3:45 p.m.
Patience carries softball team vs. Lakeside
For the Whippets’ softball team, the season began on March 28 when the team travelled to face Lakeside Lutheran. Third-year Whippets head coach Ron Sdano said the team is young coming into the season and that four key players had to be replaced.
With those replacements, though, comes an added boost of youth and overall team speed. The offense was apparent for the Whippets against Lakeside Lutheran, as the team scored 10 runs, but defensively, allowed 13, resulting in the three-run defeat.
Lakeside Lutheran recorded just five hits in the game, but earned 14 walks to help them score 13 runs. Whitewater held a 6-2 lead after a six-run second inning, but from that point on, was outscored 11-4.
Whitewater’s Alyssa Schumacher went 4-for-4 in the game with a home run and finished with six RBIs. Just two days later came the Whippets’ second game, as the team faced Beloit Turner on the road as well.
Beloit Turner would go on to win, 8-5, giving the Whippets an 0-2 record heading into the second week of the season. Schumacher went 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI. Of the 29 at bats, the Whippets recorded five hits and 11 strikeouts.
The next game will be the Whippets’ third-straight road game to open the 2017 season, as the team will travel to face Palmyra-Eagle at 4:45 p.m. on April 6. Whitewater is then off until its fourth-straight road game, starting at 4:45 p.m. on April 11 at Edgerton.
The Whippets’ first home game of the season is set for a 4:45 p.m. start time on April 13, also against Edgerton.
