WeBo blasts Blackhawks for first win
Mar. 23—WESTFIELD — Western Boone head coach Mike Vanderpool wanted his team to get some momentum heading into Spring Break next week.
They got it in a big way on Thursday night, topping Sheridan 16-0 in five innings to improve to 1-1 on the year.
"This was a good win going into spring break," Vanderpool said. "We are happy we got this game in (because of the weather). We had Noblesville earlier in the week, so we wanted to get this in and hopefully pick up some confidence heading into break. Gabby (Lewis) pitched well and did a good job tonight, then we hit the ball well too."
After a scoreless top of the first, WeBo went right to work offensively in the bottom half of the inning.
Emma Shirley and Emily Conyer hit back-to-back singles leading off the game to make it 1-0, before a Lewis double made it 2-0.
Mickayla Naanos made it 3-0 with a single, and after a fielders choice, Morganne Grant and Kale Conner followed with singles and came around to score to make it 6-0.
Eight of the nine spots in the WeBo order got hits in the game, and all nine reached.
Shirley, Lewis, Makenzie Amich and Grant all scored three runs. Conyer and Conner drove in three, with Amich and Grant driving in two.
Lewis was 3-for-3 on the night, with Grant going 2-for-2. Shirley had three hits, with Conyer and Conner all had two hits.
"The top of our order is returning and they are still strong," Vanderpool said. "But I have seen some really good things from the rest of the line-up too. We have a couple of lefties at the bottom of our line-up that are really quick, so I liked how they got base to make a difference with their base running."
Lewis allowed four hits in the game, and struck out nine in five innings. She struck out six of the last seven batters she faced.
The Stars didn't commit an error in the game either, and have just one error in two games despite almost an entirely new defensive line-up.
"We have a freshmen at second base and she is doing great," Vanderpool said. "She is going to be a big part of what we do. We had to move Mak (Amich) to third and Naanos to first, and they are both doing a great job so far."
Western Boone is now off until April 5, when they host Lafayette Jeff.
They then travel to Faith Christian and host Brownsburg before conference play starts.
Vanderpool said the Stars got some good work in during the opening week of the season.
"We got good work in," Vanderpool said. "Playing a team like Noblesville early, we walk away seeing what a great team is made of and what we need to do to get better. Then we play Sheridan today and fixed some things and get some confidence going into break. Hopefully the girls are going into break with a little momentum and feeling a little better about themselves."
Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.
