By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Whitewater High School softball team was 2-8 overall heading into this past week, a week that held two games on its schedule. The Whippets first faced Evansville on April 28 on the road after losing to them on April 26 at home, 12-3.
In the game on April 28, the Whippets opened up the contest with a run in the top of the first inning, but its lead lasted only that long. Evansville scored one in the bottom of the first and then two in the fifth before opening the game up in the sixth inning, where they scored seven more.
By the game’s end, Evansville won, 10-2. Evansville out-hit the Whippets, 7-5 and the Whippets were charged with three errors. Head coach Ron Sdano said it was a good game and Michaela Schumacher went 2-for-3 at the plate while scoring a run.
“Izzy Zahn pitched a good game through five innings but in the sixth, three hits, two walks and two errors led to seven Evansville runs,” Sdano said. “We played well through five innings but fell apart in the sixth. Izzy pitched the whole game, giving up five earned runs, seven hits, three walks and six strikeouts.”
The team then went to Jefferson on May 3 and again, led at the top of the first inning, 1-0. In the top of the third, the Whippets scored another to make it 2-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, though, Jefferson scored four runs for a 4-2 lead. In the top of the fifth, the game flipped once again, as the Whippets scored three runs thanks to a three-run home run by Schumacher.
The lead didn’t last long though, as Jefferson tied it at the bottom of the fifth inning and then scored five more in the sixth, leading to the 10-5 defeat. Zahn went 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles and a run scored, while Kailey Ruhl went 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and three stolen bases.
“Izzy Zahn pitched the first five innings and left with the score tied at 5-5,” Sdano said. “Izzy pitched well except for the fourth inning. Jefferson got four runs off in the fourth inning with two hits, three walks and two errors. Michaela Schumacher came into the game in the sixth inning and gave up five runs on two hits, two errors and some poor defense.”
The loss dropped Whitewater to 2-10 overall in 2016.
