PIQUA – The Lady Wave made it look easy in the opening inning, scoring five first-inning runs while keeping the Piqua Lady Indians in check through seven complete innings to earn an 8-0 Miami Valley League victory and stay perfect in the conference with an 11-0 mark.
“Great Day for Lady Wave Softball,” said veteran coach Jerrod Newland. “Just a great day for the kids.”
“Proud of the kids, hitting the ball square and passing the bat,” Newland continued. “Hit the ball at them a lot, they made a lot of plays. It wasn’t like they were giving us anything.”
Greenville seniors Kylar Arnett and Zoey Burns led off the night with a line drive singles to left, followed by a run-scoring single to center off the bat of freshman Ella Oswalt for a 1-0 lead that would hold up for the Wednesday night road win.
Lizzie Shaffer knocked a single to right, and Kendall Cromwell drove an RBI single to left for a 3-0 advantage.
Leah Force knocked in the fourth run with a sacrifice fly to center, and Rielynn Davidson sent the fifth run of the inning home with a line drive single to right.
Greenville continued to hit the cover off the ball but was unable to plate a run as the teams played scoreless until the top of the seventh, when the visiting Lady Wave posted three runs to lead 8-0 with Piqua coming to the plate.
Cromwell led off the GHS seventh with a single to left, bringing freshman shortstop Leah Force to the plate to crush a home run that was as high as it was deep over the left field fence for a 7-0 lead.
“She hit that one good, it just kept going,” said Coach Newland. “She’s going to be a great ball player. She turned on that and drove it, and it kept going and going and going. Very proud of the young lady.”
Lily Brubaker followed with a single off the pitcher’s shin, a Davidson single to center, and a Morgan Thompson run-scoring fielder’s choice for an 8-0 Greenville lead. Greenville sophomore Lizzie Shaffer pitched the final inning, shutting the Lady Indians down with no runs.
“Good day for the kids, fun for the program; and look at our staff,” Coach Newland stated. “We have a great coaching staff, proud of them, Denny (Ruble) and Ally (Russell) Bowers over there talking things, you have Coach (Justine) Shilt and Tom (Cromwell) talking. We have a very, very good high school coaching staff, and I love where we’re at and where we’re going. It will be a fun six weeks.”
Oswalt pitched 6.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing seven hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts. Shaffer tossed 1.0 inning of scoreless relief, one hit, no walks, and a strikeout.
“Ella came out and threw a pretty good game on the mound, and kept us in it,” Newland noted. “We made some big plays out there.”
Coach Newland talked about his two freshmen starters, Ella Oswalt, a good-hitting starting pitcher, and his power-hitting shortstop.
“Just fabulous freshmen, both of them out there,” he said. “I’ve waited for them for years to get to play. When they’re playing, they’re playing the right way, hitting the ball and pitching – just proud of them.”
Eight Lady Wave accounted for 18 Greenville hits on the night.
Force paced the Lady Wave at the plate, going 3-3 including a home run, 3 RBIs, and a run scored. Davidson was 3-4, one RBI; Burns 3-5, one run; Arnett 2-5, one run; Brubaker 2-4 including a double, one run; Cromwell 2-4, two RBIs; Oswalt 2-4, one RBI; Shaffer 1-4, one run; Caleigh Stebbins two runs; Thompson one RBI; Bri Klosterman one run.
“Like where we’re at hitting the ball,” Newland concluded. “Get a league win and excited for the opportunity today. Thursday, we’ll rest up a little bit after three straight on the road, and Friday, host Piqua and Saturday, host Centerville, so it should be a fun weekend of softball, and just excited where we’re at and where we’re going.”
BOX SCORE:
123 456 7 R H E
500 000 3 8 18 1 GREENVILLE
000 000 0 0 8 1 Piqua
