Witthaus throws no-hitter, records 21 strikeouts in win

By John Rohlf, Sports Editor
Posted 10/5/22

Kylie Witthaus’ bat and 21 strikeout no-hitter lifted Warrenton to a win over St. Charles last week. Warrenton (12-7) topped St. Charles 1-0 last week. Witthaus pitched 7 innings and recorded …

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Witthaus throws no-hitter, records 21 strikeouts in win

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Kylie Witthaus’ bat and 21 strikeout no-hitter lifted Warrenton to a win over St. Charles last week.
Warrenton (12-7) topped St. Charles 1-0 last week. Witthaus pitched 7 innings and recorded every out via the strikeout. She allowed one runner to reach base on a hit-by-pitch. Another runner reached on an error. Witthaus also recorded the only RBI in the game.
“My defense was talking behind me,” Witthaus said. “So that helps me stay in the game. And then everything was spinning today. So it was kind of cool even for me to be like wow everything was spinning. But really it was the defense and the dugout just talking it up and helping me stay in it.”
Witthaus hit an RBI-double in the third inning to give Warrenton a 1-0 lead. Rose Renshaw and Caydyence Haverfield each walked to start the third inning. After St. Charles recorded a pair of outs, Witthaus doubled with two outs to give the Lady Warriors the lead.
“The first pitch I saw was kind of outside,” Witthaus said. “And then the next one was a pretty good pitch and I broke my bat. It could have maybe gone farther if I didn’t break my bat but I mean it was I think a big momentum shift for us. And as a team, the runners before me getting on so we could push them across. It was just a team success.”
Ashleigh Reid reached on an error for St. Charles to start the seventh inning. She stole two bases to reach third base with one out. Witthaus struck out Megan Aceves and Rosalyn Nevois to clinch the victory.
“There was a lot of pressure,” Warrenton softball coach Chad Berrey said. “In a close game, especially a conference game where the conference championship is on the line, there was pressure from the first pitch. So our defense was there if we needed them. But luckily we didn’t need them today. Throwing as much as she did and how she spun it today, just purely incredible.”
Berrey noted the challenges the Lady Warriors offense faced against St. Charles pitcher Bryten Kendrick. He said Kendrick threw the hardest velocity Warrenton had seen all season. Kendrick struck out 10 Warrenton batters in the loss. She allowed one hit and walked two Lady Warriors. Both walks occurred in the third inning.
“We tried to make adjustments,” Berrey said. “We were putting the ball in play. Just not hard enough. So when we got runners on, we decided to play small ball, try to get runners over, push runners over, scoring position as much as possible and hopefully it’ll hold. When a pitcher is throwing like Kendrick did, you just got to play for one, which we did.”
Berrey is hoping to see the Lady Warriors peak at the right time heading into districts next week. The Lady Warriors are 7-2 in their last nine games. He characterized the Lady Warrior offense this season as a roller coaster.
“I used to be able to pretty much determine how well we’re going to do offensively from the start of the game, from BP (batting practice) before the game,” Berrey said. “But us being so new, there’s really no telling what the team is going to be rolling out with sometimes four freshmen on the field. You really never know what you’re going to get with this team. We’re young. Growing pains like I say every time. But we’ve got to peak at the right time and hopefully we do.”
Warrenton beat Holt 8-3 last weekend to win their 11th game of the season. Witthaus, Kiera Daniel and Maddisyn Hoelscher each had two RBIs in the win. Witthaus homered for Warrenton. Hoelscher recorded four hits for the Lady Warriors. Mackenzie Hurst recorded three hits and led the Lady Warriors with three runs scored. Witthaus pitched seven innings and struck out 11 Holt batters in the win.
The Lady Warriors dropped a close 1-0 game to Boone earlier this week. Hurst had two hits. Witthaus and Hoelscher each recorded one hit. Witthaus also reached base on a walk. Witthaus pitched six innings and did not allow a hit in the loss. She struck out 15 Bowling Green batters.
The Lady Warriors beat Union 4-0 Tuesday.
Warrenton is slated to begin district tournament play next week.


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