The Warrenton Lady Warriors scored four runs with two outs in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie and beat Holt in the first round of the district tournament.
The Lady Warriors beat Holt 7-3 to advance to the Class 4, District 4 semifinals. The Lady Warriors will square off against Ft. Zumwalt East in the district semifinals.
Despite scoring two runs in the first four innings, Warrenton softball coach Chad Berrey thought the Lady Warriors hit the ball well early in the game. He noted the Lady Warriors hit into a double play on Kylie Witthaus’ hard line drive to first base with a runner on in the first inning.
“Over the course of the game, when you hit the ball on a line over and over again, you will find holes,” Berrey said. “You will push runs across the board. And that’s what we did there.”
The Lady Warriors scored runs in the first and third innings. Holt scored a run in the second inning. Holt added one run in the fifth inning. Kylie Witthaus was able to escape a first and second, one-out jam in the fifth inning to keep the game tied 2-2.
The Lady Warriors scored four runs in the fifth inning to claim a 6-2 lead. Senior Mackenzie Hurst led off the inning with a walk. Kiera Daniel singled with one out to put runners on first and second with one out. Audrey Lanzone singled to center but Hurst was thrown out at the plate to keep the game tied.
“That was definitely a situation based on the score, the time of the game,” Berrey said. “You’ve got to take the risk, the chances of a centerfielder to field it cleanly, throw a perfect ball, for the catcher to catch it in the right position on time, the likelihood was very small.”
Freshman Makayla Witthaus walked with two outs to load the bases. Junior Maddisyn Hoelscher singled to give Warrenton the lead. After Rose Renshaw’s bases loaded walk, freshman Caydynce Haverfield singled in two runs to give the Warriors a four-run lead.
“The girls didn’t panic, which was good,” Berrey said. “They had good approaches. We’ve been talking about having a good approach. They sat in there. They didn’t chase. They didn’t press. They looked for something to drive and we got a couple girls on free bases and ended up having a big inning.”
Warrenton added an insurance run in the sixth inning on Kylie Witthaus’ RBI double. Holt added one run in the seventh inning but Warrenton closed out the game with a 7-3 win.
Berrey thinks the close game in the first round of districts can help the Lady Warriors in later rounds of the tournament. He noted they won their first round game last year 15-0 in three innings.
“Having a good, close game like this really locks the girls in,” Berrey said. “We have some adjustments to work on in practice. We will see better velocity, better pitching come Thursday. So now we know what we have to prepare for and I’ll watch this game and scout and see what we have to work on in practice. We have one day to shore things up and be ready.”
First pitch for this Thursday’s district semifinal against Ft. Zumwalt East is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Ft. Zumwalt East High School.