PERRY TOWNSHIP – Both teams were looking for a little momentum when Perry and Delphos Jefferson met in softball Wednesday afternoon at Perry.
Everyone was glad to find warm weather, no rain, and a nice day to finally play following the cold and rain of the early season.
The Wildcats grabbed their first win of the season as they rode a seven run first inning to a 12-8 win over the Commodores.
After starting the season 0-5, the win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Wildcats and their first year head coach Michelle Schuerman.
“It feels really good, it feels amazing.” Schuerman said in describing how she felt about her first win as a head coach.
That seven run first inning was huge for Delphos and just what they needed to kick-start their way to that initial win.
“Our confidence went through the roof and our effort was at 110 percent.” Schuerman said. “Our defense was solid and sophomore pitcher Audrey North is our rock.”
Jefferson sent 12 batters to the plate and pounded out six hits and was the recipient of one walk and one error that gave them extra chances in that first inning explosion.
The Wildcats (1-5) would go on to score single runs in the second and third innings to go up 9-0 before the Commodores bounced back with five runs in the bottom of the third inning.
After retiring the side one-two-three in the first and second innings, North ran into a few problems in the third inning.
The first two Perry (1-5) batters reached on errors and then Makayla Deal, Kaylene Trent, and Kelsey Wells connected for back-to-back-to-back doubles and one wild pitch later the Commodores had plated five runs to get back into the game.
Delphos added two runs in the fourth and a single run in the sixth to grab a 12-5 lead before Perry scored three times in the sixth to get back with-in 12-8.
But North retired the side in the seventh, thanks to a game ending double play, to get the complete game win.
“We didn’t quit and we battled,” Perry coach Bruce Wilhelm said. “We made some early mistakes (five errors) and we have young kids playing but they just have to learn from those mistakes and get better.”
Wells was the only Perry batter to get two hits in the game.
For the Wildcats, Michelle Rode and Ally Hastings both finished with three hits in the game. Jayla Rostorfer, Sierra Marlow, and Kate Stevenson each added two hits to the 13 hit Delphos attack.
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