Wildcats earn shutout win over New Bremen
NEW BREMEN — The contact came early and often.
Minster hammered the ball around as they defeated neighbor New Bremen 10-0 on Thursday afternoon. The game was the first Midwest Athletic Conference contest for both sides. It ended after five innings due to the 10run rule.
The Lady Wildcats (1-0, 5-1) scored in every inning, piling up 11 hits on the day. Addi Inskeep had a tworun homer, and Emma Goubeaux hit a solo shot. Savanah Bergman doubled and singled, driving in three runs, and Rylin Trego had an RBI double.
Mikaela Hoskins collected the victory, allowing four hits. She walked one and struck out four.
Coach Robb Hemmelgarn said, “Anytime you go on the road, you want to set the tone early, and we did that.”
He noted that the team “was consistent across the board” rather than scoring in just one or two innings. Hemmelgarn said the team is working on being smart in its base running, and “things are coming along.”
For New Bremen, Alayna Ross had a single and double. Also getting hits were Ella Pape and Alivia Dammeyer.
Ross was the losing pitcher, with four walks and three strikeouts.
Cardinals coach Gary Moeder said that “we can’t give them extra outs. Routine plays that we’ve made in practice, we struggled to make.” He added that “it is just a matter of time before things start to click. We have to keep plugging away and get better.”
After the leadoff batter for Minster was retired on a groundout, Bergman knocked a ball into left field for the game’s first hit. She was able to take second as the left fielder slightly overran the ball.
A couple pitches later, Inskeep smacked one to left field and the wind carried it over the fence for a 2-0 lead.
Hoskins reached on another error, but two strikeouts got New Bremen out of the inning.
Allison Hays and Pape both hit rocket line drives in the home half, but Minster third baseman Kaycie Albers and second baseman Emma Linn were both able to react and snare them for outs.
In the top of the second, Hannah Oldiges drew a leadoff walk. New Bremen got the next two batters out, but Lyndi Hemmelgarn then walked to keep the inning alive. A passed ball moved the runners up a base. Bergman then doubled into left field, boosting the lead to four runs.
Ross broke up hopes of a no-hitter with a single down the left field line in the second.
She was then thrown out trying to steal second on the next pitch. Two groundouts moved things on to the third.
Ross got Hoskins to pop up to shortstop. Goubeaux took the first pitch, then belted the next over the wall in left-center to make it 5-0.
After Linn walked, Oldiges beat out an infield single near third base. Linn advanced to third, and a slow reaction by the Cardinals defense permitted Oldiges to advance. A wild pitch allowed Linn to score.
Trego doubled to center, brining Oldiges across with run number seven. A lineout to short ended the inning.
New Bremen’s Mackenzie Bornhorst was grazed by a pitch to start the home half. Two batters later, Homan reached on a fielder’s choice with Bornhorst forced out at second. A ground ball was then handled by Hoskins who tossed it to first.
With one down in the fourth, Inskeep hit a single into shallow right, then Hoskins shot one through the middle of the infield. Hoskins was replaced by courtesy runner Jenna Schulze.
Goubeaux singled to right. The runners advanced, with New Bremen throwing the ball to third base. The ball went into foul ground, and Inskeep was able to shoot home with another run.
Schulze tried to take third as well, but was tagged out. Linn singled past first base into right, putting Goubeaux at third before a grounder got New Bremen out of the frame.
The Lady Cardinals had their best scoring chance in the bottom of the fourth. After a strikeout to open the frame, Pape smacked a single into center. Ross followed with a double that hit off the fence in left-center. Kanyen Moon then drew a base on balls to put runners at each station.
A ground ball by Kyla Stachler was fired from second back to Bergman at the plate, who was able to tag out Pape. A wild pitch saw Ross try to get her team on the board, but Minster got the tag again to preserve the shutout.
With one away in the fifth, Trego reached on an infield single, then stole second. Hemmelgarn’s popup was caught by Dammeyer in foul ground on the third base side.
Bergman hit a fly to center, which bounced out of the fielder’s glove, and allowed Trego to race around and score.
Bergman, who had gotten to second, stole third. An errant throw gave her the chance to advance and she bolted home with the 10th run of the day.
Dammeyer got a oneout single in the bottom of the fifth. Homan was thrown out on a close play, then Grace Wilker grounded to second for the final out.