The Columbus Wildcat softball team used both offense and defense to capture a dominant 13-0 mercy rule victory over the WACO Warriors last night at the John Currie Sports Complex in Columbus Junction.
Junior Kennedy Woepking would get the start in the circle for the ‘Cats, and she wasted no time in retiring her first batter as it took only four pitches to put down Warrior sophomore Madelyn Farmer. Another Woepking punchout and a ground out from Drew Graber sent action to the bottom half of the opening frame where Columbus would plate their first three runs of the night off of two passed balls and a dropped third strike. While WACO would get their second hit of the night when Mei Leichty singled on a line drive to second, the Columbus defense stood tall and yielded no runs. The Warrior defense would respond by allowing no damage in the second, but would again be victimized by a pair of Woepking Ks, leading to no damage of their own in the third. Errors and other miscues would plague WACO in the bottom half, allowing five Wildcat runs to score, two of which unearned, highlighted by an RBI single by senior Lily Coil and a two RBI double by Woepking. The Warriors would strand a runner in scoring position for the third time when Woepking sat down Addison Alliman for her sixth punchout of the evening. With the outcome fully in their hands and three outs to work with, the ‘Cats took advantage, bringing across their last five runs on fireworks from Ellie Sanders and Coil. Just moments after Sanders scored teammate Delta Cutler on an RBI single and with the bases loaded, Coil cleared the basepaths on the the third offering from pitcher Savannah Harris to seal a triumphant home conference victory.
Unofficially, Columbus scored 13 runs on five hits and committed no errors, while WACO scored no runs on four hits and committed two errors. Coil finished 2/3 with a single and her grand slam with five RBI and two runs. Woepking was just as impressive with a 1/3 night with her two RBI double and a win in the circle, tossing all four innings, allowing no runs on four hits and six punchouts. Both players were named Washington County Hospital and Clinics Players of the Game for Columbus, and spoke to KCII Sports live on the Area Game of the Week postgame show to break down what went well in the win.
“Tonight we played great as a team. We worked together and everybody was a piece of that win,” Woepking said. “(On her two RBI double), It’s great! Every time I hit the ball I know it’s going to be a great hit.”
“(On her grand slam), I just felt it,” Coil said. “It felt right to swing. Dustin [Traylor], my head coach, just told me to put a bat on the ball and that’s exactly what I did. It was a smooth swing. (On last season’s injury), I missed out on I felt like a lot last season, and now I’m a senior and I really can step up into that leader role and show those younger girls what we expect and how they need to act. It’s just great to be back!”
WACO was led by a 2/2 night from sophomore Carlee Lunsford. Picking up the loss was Harris, tossing three-and-a-third innings, allowing 13 runs on five hits, eight earned, four walks and two strikeouts.
With the win, Columbus is now 2-1 on the season and will face a tough challenge in Riverside against the Highland Huskies tonight, while WACO is now 0-3 ahead of their matchup with Hillcrest Academy this evening. You can hear the matchup between the Warriors and Ravens live on the KCII3 Stream starting with pregame coverage at 6:30 from Dick Wagner Field in Wayland.