PIERCE – If there was any lingering doubt as to who the best softball team in the Mid State Conference was, Wayne High emphatically erased them Saturday.
The Blue Devils’ bats were on fire all day as they scored 45 runs in just 10 innings of work to wrap up the conference tournament championship Saturday, finishing it off with a 15-0, three-inning blowout of Guardian Angels Central Catholic in the championship game.
Wayne opened with a 12-2 win over Pierce, blowing the game open with four runs in the second and seven in the fourth after the Bluejays built an early 2-0 lead. Kiara Hochstein had an RBI double and Kennedy Maly had a bases-clearing triple to highlight the four-run second inning. In the fourth, Maly had an RBI triple, Jamie Gamble had an RBI double and Ashten Gibson stroked a two-run double to highlight the big inning.
Maly finished the game with two hits and four RBI’s while Hochstein had three hits, drove in two and scored two. Gibson and Annie Kniesche each had two RBI’s. Hannah Belt got the win, striking out five and allowing three hits and four walks.
The Blue Devils jumped all over GACC in the semifinals, scoring 15 runs in the first two innings and finishing off the Bluejays with an 18-6 win.
Jenna Trenhaile hit her second home run of the year to cap a nine-run first inning, stroking a two-run blast to center. Kniesche had a two-run triple, Gibson had a two-run double and Tori Kniesche had an RBI double to highlight the big inning.
Wayne scored six more in the second, using four bases-loaded walks. After GACC put up six in the bottom of the second, Wayne came back with three more, highlighted by RBI singles by Maly and Sidney Biggerstaff.
Hochstein and Trenhaile each had three hits, while Maly, Biggerstaff and Annie Kniesche had two hits apiece in the win.
The two teams met again in the championship, and Wayne had no problems again, finishing off GACC with a 15-0 shutout. Wayne scored 10 runs in the second inning to put the game out of reach.
Maly hit a solo homer and Keller launched a three-run bomb to highlight the big first inning. Gibson had a bases-loaded double and Maly added a two-run double in the second inning. Belt threw a one-hit shutout, striking out three.
Wayne is 22-3 on the season and will finish the regular season Monday at South Sioux City. They compete in the B-3 district Thursday and Friday in Wisner.
