Tuesday, Apr. 14, 2009

ONW rocks East for softball sweep

Olathe East's softball team has won six Kansas 6A titles, including four straight from 2005 to 2008. Olathe Northwest, meanwhile, has been to state once, finishing second last year.

In terms of tradition, a wide gulf still separates coach Jeff Hulse's Hawks dynasty and the Ravens, but coach Mark Mahoney's girls served notice Tuesday night that the chasm is shrinking with a 5-1, 11-5 sweep at the College Boulevard Activity Center.

Undefeated ONW never trailed, pounding out 25 hits and committing only two errors behind aces Hannah Dale and Jacinda Ramos, who combined for 17 strikeouts.

“Anytime you can beat one of the best teams in the history of the state of Kansas it feels good,” Mahoney said. “They may not have some of those All-Americans they had in the past, but they are still very, very good. They are a top-notch program and we're trying to emulate what Jeff's doing and what the Hawks are doing.”

Perhaps no one was more excited than Dale, who beat East for the second straight season — a claim few pitchers can make.

“Everyone wants to beat East and tonight proves that last year wasn't a fluke,” said Dale, a senior, who struck out seven and scattered five hits in the opening-game win.

The Hawks' youth proved costly in the fifth-inning that game, a game which was scoreless to that point. Victoria Toplikar's leadoff single set the stage for a five-run outburst when consecutive sacrifice bunts were mishandled by East's infield, loading the bases for ONW.

Sophomore Kristi Lee roped an RBI single and junior Amy Pierce followed with a two-run base knock that chased Hawks starter Darin Lewis from the game. Ramos followed with an RBI single to right that was bobbled, allowing the fifth run to score.

“It was a tight game, so we were just trying to get the runner over and get something in,” Mahoney said. “We laid down a good bunt and they hesitated, so we tried it again and it worked out again. I think they got down a little bit after that and we kind of rose up a little bit and started believing in ourselves.”

Dale shut the door from there.

“She's so solid,” Mahoney said. “She started out rough, but she doesn't get flustered. She was 0-for-4 at the plate and it didn't bother her one bit. She still remembers getting beat 22-0 by them as a freshman. She talked to me about it today in class and I think that's a big motivator for her.”

The Ravens, 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Sunflower League, kept that momentum going in the second game, staking Ramos to a six-run lead after the first inning.

Back-to-back Hawks errors crack the door open, while Kendra Wright and Chantelle Dietz kicked it open with consecutive singles.

The inning's third error on first baseman Heather Dace's throw home plated two runs. Toplikar then ripped a two-run single, while Lee later added an RBI single following East's fourth error in the frame.

“We made it difficult on ourselves a few times,” Hulse said. “If we would have made the easy outs, obviously we wouldn't give up that many runs and you can't do that against good teams. We just can't make the game too hard.”

Catcher Carrie Wilson's two-run single in the second made it 8-0, while another RBI single by Wilson and an RBI groundout by Ramos unbelievably gave ONW the chance to mercy-rule East.

But trailing 10-0 entering the fifth, the Hawks showed their resolve.

Shelbi Olson drew a one-out walk and Kendall Grimm slapped an infield single to short. A single by Kiki Stokes loaded the bases for Laura Vickers, who rocked a three-run triple to deep left-center. Vickers scored on an RBI single by Jessica Brooks.

East added another run in the sixth but couldn't dig out of such a big hole.

“That's a good team,” Hulse said. “They proved that last year and have some great kids back. We understand that we're going to always get everybody's best shot, because we're a measuring stick. But by the same token we're still trying to work through some things and trying to find ourselves, because we've for some youth on the team.”

He's confident the Hawks, 6-2 overall and 4-1 in league, will put it together. In fact, the sweep may provide the motivation his players need.

“Next game, we're going to come back with a chip on our shoulder and come together as a team more,” Vickers said. “We'll be a lot better off starting our next games.”

First game

OLATHE NORTHWEST 5, OLATHE EAST 1

OE (6-1, 4-1 SL) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 5 1

ONW (6-0, 4-0 SL) 0 0 0 0 5 0 x — 5 9 1

Darin Lewis, Blair Lewis (5) and Hillary Hinderliter. Hannah Dale and Carrie Wilson. W — Dale (4-0). L — D. Lewis (3-1).

Second game

OLATHE NORTHWEST 11, OLATHE EAST 5

OE (6-2) 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 — 5 8 4

ONW (7-0) 6 2 0 2 0 1 x — 11 16 1

Blair Lewis, Darin Lewis (1), Ashley Stout (2) and Hillary Hinderliter, Sami Olson (6). Jacinda Ramos and Carrie Wilson. W — Ramos (3-0). L — B. Lewis (1-1).

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