HASTINGS — Bishop Neumann pitcher Addison Sylliaasen limited Wayne to just two hits and the Cavaliers hit three home runs to post an 8-0 win in Wednesday’s opening round of the Class State Softball Championships at Smith Softball Complex.
Starting pitcher Mackenzie Nissen worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and set down the side in order in the second, but Neumann’s bats came to life in the third when Ana Fisher singled home Adelyn Zwick and Ela Lanik followed with a three-run homer to center field to give the third-seed Cavaliers a 4-0 lead.
Neumann scored three more in the fifth thanks to an RBI double by Aubree Milliken and a two-run homer by Jill Johnson, then closed the game on the eight-run mercy rule on the first pitch of the inning as Bridget Whitney homered to left.
Wayne managed just three baserunners in the game. Nyla Bolles was hit by a pitch and had a single, and Jersi Jensen got a base hit off of Sylliaasen, who struck out five and walked none.
Nissen pitched five innings, striking out five and walking six.
Wayne (23-7) will face Freeman in a 9 a.m. losers bracket game on Thursday.
Other first-round action saw top-seed Hastings St. Cecilia beat Gothenburg 7-3, fourth-seed Ashland-Greenwood blanked Aquinas 8-0 in five innings, and No. 2 seed Central City clobbered Freeman 15-3 in a three-inning contest.
