Here are highlights from this weekend’s Dirt Devils softball action:
18’s take second at Golden Girls Invite – The Wayne Dirt Devils 18-under team went 4-1 and came home with the runner-up trophy in the Golden Girls Invitational over the weekend in Norfolk.
On Friday, Wayne opened with a 6-0 win over the Golden Girls. Ashten Gibson tossed a three-hit shutout, striking out five, and Kennedy Maly came through with a key two-run double as one of two hits in the game for the winners.
On Saturday, Wayne’s bats were hot as they hit a pair of home runs in a 10-1 wipeout of David City.
Kennedy Maly went over the wall with a three-run shot in the first inning, and Abby Ankeny followed in the fifth with a three-run blast of her own to highlight the Wayne win.
Schaefer and Maly each had two hits to lead a seven-hit effort. Gibson struck out six and scattered three hits for the win.
In their second game Saturday, Wayne beat the Screaming Eagles 6-1, putting the game out of reach with a three-run sixth inning. An RBI single by Gibson and RBI groundouts by Grace Lindsay and Sidney Biggerstaff helped put things out of reach and send Wayne to the semifinals.
Gibson, Ankeny and Gamble each had two hits in the win, and Gibson tossed a three-hitter.
Wayne met David City in the semifinals and had to battle for a 3-1 to reach the finals. Wayne broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Schaefer and Jenna Trenhaile both reached on errors and then scored on a hard ground ball by Biggerstaff that was mishandled by the shortstop.
Ankeny had two of Wayne’s six hits in the win. Gibson threw a one-hitter, striking out seven.
Wayne met the host Golden Girls again in the finals, with the hosts coming away with the win in a 7-2 decision. The Golden Girls scored four in the second to build a 5-0 lead and Wayne was unable to get closer than three runs after that.
Gibson had three hits, Gamble added two and Kiara Hochstein had a triple in the loss.
14’s go 0-2 in district at Blair – The Wayne Dirt Devils 14-under team went 0-2 in district action over the weekend at Blair, falling to 6-12 on the season.
In their first game, they fell to Logan View 8-3. Aliah Schulz led the offense with a double and Kayla Fleming and Tori Ostrand each had singles. Amara Hurlbert took the loss in the circle.
In their second game, Wayne fell to Highway 91 13-6. Schulz had a triple and a single and Chloe Klug had two singles to lead the Wayne offense. Nikki Fertig added a double and Hurlbert had a single. Hurlbert and Fleming combined in the pitching efforts for Wayne.
The Wayne Dirt Devils 14-under team dropped two games to the Fremont Force in Fremont last week.
In the opener, the Force Black team won 19-4. Fleming, Fertig and Klug had singles while Ostrand doubled to highlight the offensive effort.
In the second game, the Dirt Devils fell to the Force White team, 13-10. Klug and Fertig each had two singles, Schulz, Mikaela McManigal and Alex Harrell added singles and Fleming had a double to lead of the offense.
12-under team goes 3-2 at Norfolk – The Wayne Dirt Devils 12-under softball team went 3-2 in action at the Golden Girls Invitational in Norfolk over the weekend.
The Dirt Devils opened play Friday with a 4-1 loss to the host team. All the scoring came in the opening inning, with Brianna Nissen hitting an RBI single to score Kendall Dorey, who reached on an error.
Hope O’Reilly and Liberty Titiml also had hits for the Devils. Dorey struck out 11 in a losing effort.
On Saturday, Wayne opened the day with an 11-1 win over the Lady Cougars. Wayne took control right away, scoring seven runs in the opening inning, Eight walks and two hit batters highlighted the big inning. Only one of Wayne’s runs came without benefit of a walk or hit batter, as Logan Miller’s single to left in the second scored Taytum Sweetland.
Sweetland scored three runs and Titiml and Nissen both came home twice in the win. Dorey struck out five and allowed two hits to get the win.
Wayne got another win Saturday with a 5-0 shutout of the Hastings Crush. Dorey’s double scored Hope O’Reilly and she later came home on a wild pitch to get Wayne on the board in the first. Dorey scored on a single by Nissen in the third, and Nissen and Brooklyn Kruse both scored on Crush miscues to give Wayne the win.
Dorey struck out 12 in five innings of work, allowing three hits and two walks.
Wayne beat the Lady Cougars a second time on Sunday, posting a 4-0 win. They put the game out of reach with two runs in the fifth, and Dorey tossed a no-hitter, striking out eight and walking five.
O’Reilly’s two-out single in the fifth brought home Virginia Kniesche with the final run of the game, highlighting a three-hit effort for the offense.
In their final game of the tournament, Wayne lost to the Golden Girls 8-0. Wayne was limited to one hit in the game, a Kruse double.
10-under team 2-2 in district – The Wayne Dirt Devils 10-under team went 2-2 in district competition over the weekend.
Wayne opened with a 15-8 win over North Bend on Friday, scoring vie runs in each of the first three innings.
Taytem Ellis had two of Wayne’s three hits and had three runs scored and two RBI’s. Jersi Jensen doubled, scored twice and had three RBI’s. Kierah Haase doubled and drove in two runs, while Sammi Gubbels and Rylin Hall drove in two runs apiece. Delaney Kruse pitched two innings and struck out four, while Hall struck out one in relief.
On Saturday, the Dirt Devils fell to the Elkhorn Slammers, 9-4. Ellis had Wayne’s only hit in the game and scored twice, while Jensen and Mackenzie Nissen each scored a run.
Wayne stayed alive in the tournament with a 9-4 win over Fort Calhoun Saturday afternoon. The Dirt Devils had eight hits in the win, with Ellis picking up three to go with three RBI and three runs scored. Kruse added two hits an d two RBI’s, while Jensen, Gubbels and Haase all had hits. Jensen scored two runs and Nissen and Grace Junck added runs. Nissen went the distance, striking out six.
Wayne was eliminated from the tournament by Wahoo, as they dropped a 10-3 decision. Ellis, Kruse and Gubbels all had hits, and Ellis Haase and Gubbels scored runs.
