Herald-Press

 

BY SEAN GIGGY

 

Playing against the second-ranked team in the state in its sectional opener, the Huntington North softball team had little room for error.

Going without their top pitcher made the job even harder for the Lady Vikes.

After a 45-minute rain delay, Homestead wasted no time showing why it’s 25-0 in Wednesday’s sectional semifinal against the Lady Vikings.

The Lady Spartans, also ranked 24th in the USA Today national poll, stormed out of the gate for 12 runs on 10 hits in the first two innings before taking home a 19-1 win in five innings.

“They hit the ball well,” said Huntington North head coach Paris Seibold.

“They played well. We played pretty clean, but they hit the ball well.

They were on a roll. It was a rough night.”

Brianna McClellan got the start in place of Maureen Lund who was battling illness all week.

Lund had appeared in 17 of the Lady Vikings’ 20 games and had 11 of their

12 wins. During the regular season, McClellan pitched against Homestead, allowing just three runs, but the Lady Spartans quickly eclipsed their 9-run game average.

The Lady Spartans had three singles and two doubles to open up a 3-0 lead before Erica Leeper took a pitch deep over the right field fence to make it 5-0 at the end of the first inning.

“Hitting is our strength,” said Homestead head coach Tom Clagg. “Tonight the Vikings did not have their number one pitcher. It would have been a different game had they been at full strength. I’m happy with the result and the name of the game is survive and advance and that’s what we’re doing.”

The first two batters reached for Homestead in the top of the second before Brittany Sork came in to pitch for the Lady Vikes. Things didn’t get better as the Lady Spartans tagged Sork for three hits and led 12-0 by the end of the second inning.

McClellan and Sork allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits through the first two innings.

“[Not having Maureen] was huge,” Seibold said. “It’s a whole different game with her. It’s tough on our freshman pitcher to start, but we didn’t have much choice.”

Homestead added three runs off Taylor Foley in the fourth to build a 15-0 lead.

The Lady Vikings finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Courtney Carpenter to make it 15-1.

The Lady Spartans tacked on four more in the fifth.

Lindsey Karst and Carpenter recorded the only two hits for Huntington North.

“They came out and hit the gaps every time,” Seibold said. “Usually if a team hits it right at you, you have a chance. They hit it hard and put it in spots we weren’t.”

In the regular season matchup with Homestead, the Lady Vikes led 4-3 before the Lady Spartans scored twice in the final two innings for a 5-4 win. It was the first loss of the season for the Lady Vikes.

The Lady Vikes will return 13 of 17 players next season.

“It was a tough year, but I think we were a better team than our record,”

Seibold said. “We played some tough teams. We didn’t hang our heads and stayed up the whole time.”

Huntington North ends the season with a 12-9 record. Homestead will face Jay County, which beat Fort Wayne North Side 10-0, in the sectional championship Friday at 7 p.m.