Warrenton used strong third and fourth innings to beat Wright City Friday.
Warrenton (4-4) beat county foe Wright City (3-5) 6-1 in a game played at Warrenton High School. After both teams scored in the first inning, Warrenton scored three runs in the third inning and two runs in the fourth inning to break the tie.
“It’s all momentum,” Warrenton softball coach Chad Berrey said. “When we get to the bottom of the lineup, they were taking great at bats. They were working their way onto base. And when you get the whole lineup one through nine producing, the momentum stays with you and that’s when you can put a crooked number on the board. That’s what we did.”
Berrey also liked his team’s response in the first inning after Wright City scored in the top half of the first inning to claim a brief lead. Kylie Witthaus hit a solo home run to tie the score.
“We talk a lot about winning each inning,” Berrey said. “When they score, it’s important to come back and win that inning. Especially when you’re the home team and you get the last shot in the bottom of the inning. I have a lot of faith in the top of our lineup right now.”
Wright City coach Fred Ross liked how the Lady Wildcats started the game. Wright City scored their first inning run on a squeeze play with one out in the inning. Paige Rees led off the game with a double and advanced to third base on Emma Staats’ single with one out. Rees scored on Sophia Wegrzyn’s bunt.
“You want to get that run and everybody did what they were supposed to do in that first inning,” Ross said.
Ross noted a number of factors led to the Lady Warriors scoring multiple runs in the third and fourth innings. Ross noted the Lady Warriors had a couple bloop hits and the Lady Wildcats missed the cutoff player that would have led to a force out.
The Lady Wildcats’ focus going forward is to eliminate the bad inning that has hurt them this season.
“We’re taking a lot of good steps in the right direction but we have that bad inning,” Ross said. “For the last five games, we’ve had a bad inning that just kills us. We don’t make one mistake. It’s one or two or three. That adds up. We’re working on just limiting. If we make a mistake, pick ourselves up. Don’t focus on that. Let’s get next one.”
Witthaus threw a complete game for Warrenton. She allowed one run in seven innings. She allowed three hits and struck out nine batters.
“With a weapon like Kylie, any game we’re going to play, we’re going to be in,” Berrey said. “She’s not going to let up many runs. She keeps us knowing that we can stay in the game no matter if our offense is firing 100% or we’re having an off day. We have confidence that we have a chance to win that game with her in the circle.”
Witthaus also led the Warrenton offensive attack with three hits. Audrey Lanzone added two hits for the Lady Warriors. Rees, Staats and Lydia Clubb each had one hit for Wright City. Wegrzyn pitched six innings for Wright City.
Warrenton beat St. Charles West earlier last week 13-3 in six innings. They lost to St. Dominic Monday.
Wright City beat Montgomery County 10-4 last week to win their first conference game of the season.