SYRACUSE – While the game was played in chilly temperatures, with fans wearing winter coats, hats and gloves and bundled in blankets, Columbia City’s offense was far from cold.
In a non-conference high school softball game in Syracuse Tuesday evening, Columbia City got off to a blistering hot start and cruised to a 14-1 win over the Wawasee Lady Warriors in five innings.
The Lady Eagles’ first five batters all singled off Wawasee freshman pitcher Kiaundra Olson in the first inning, as Columbia City led 5-0 after one frame and 10-0 at the end of the third.
Wawasee coach Mike Barger said he was pleased with Olson’s pitching performance, noting that she threw strikes – probably too many strikes the second-year Lady Warriors skipper said.
Columbia City, which sent 17 batters to the plate in the first two innings while Wawasee had just 17 official at-bats total, pounded out 17 hits off Olson, including two-run homers by senior Ciarra Ivy and sophomore Felicity Clawson, as well as four doubles.
“Columbia City is a good hitting team,” said Barger, whose team fell to 2-2 on the season, while the Lady Eagles improved to 3-0 and have outscored their opponents 36-3.
“I just talked to Kiaundra, and to be honest I?thought she pitched well. The ball was low, and Columbia City had some good at-bats. She got some kids out, struck a couple kids out ... they’re just a good hitting team.
“We made a few mistakes today. It’s the aggressiveness I’m waiting for. It’s inside of them, it just hasn’t come out yet. I could talk about it until I’m blue in the face, but we’re a young team, and the aggressiveness is going to come out eventually, I’m just not sure when.”
Wawasee’s two hits off Columbia City senior Anna Weigold included a double by junior Bethany Flannery and a single by freshman Olivia Stuck.
Weigold, who got the Lady Warriors to ground out a number of times, faced just 19 batters in five innings of work. She walked two and struck out one.
“The kids kept coming back saying she was throwing a curveball, so she threw some spin to the outside and we just couldn’t adjust,” Barger said of Weigold’s performance in the circle.
“Our offense just isn’t clicking yet. This team is still too unsure of who they want to be. I don’t know who we’re going to be yet. We’ve got a tough game Friday against Manchester, and they’re just as good, and then we’ve got Triton and they’re usually decent.
“We’ve got some tough games before we go into conference next week, and honestly I don’t care if we get two losses out of those games before conference. All I’m looking for is to progress. I want to see that aggressiveness come out.”
After scoring five runs in the first inning, Columbia City plated four in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth.
The Lady Eagles’ Bella Ross, Allison Conrad and Weigold had three hits each, while Brayden Lickey, Ivy and Clawson had two each.
Wawasee scored its lone run in the third inning when Flannery drove in freshman Amanda Jenkins, who drew a two-out walk.
The Lady Warriors host Manchester Friday at 5 p.m., travel to Triton Saturday and then host rival Warsaw Monday in the Northern Lakes Conference opener.
