Talk about untouchable.
The Class B No. 6 Wayne High softball team was simply too much for the rest of the teams in the B-6 subdistrict, thanks to near-perfect pitching and timely hitting that helped them claim a spot in this Friday’s Round of 16 with a spot in the state tournament awaiting the winners.
In 17 innings of work across three games, Wayne’s pitchers did not give up a single hit and allowed a mere four baserunners — three of those in the finals — to come away with a trio of wins, capped by Tuesday's 2-0 over Seward to put themselves in great position to return to the state tournament for the 17th time in the program’s 18-year history.
Seward would knock out Blue River 13-3 to get a second chance at Tori Kniesche after being the victim of a perfect game Monday, but did not fare much better as the senior hurler worked around an error and two walks to silence another 19 Bluejays via the strikeout for her second no-hitter in as may days and adding her name to two spots in the state record books. The no-hitter was her 10th of the year, breaking the old Class B record of nine, and she broke the old single-season Class B record for strikeouts in a year (380) with 387 heading into Friday’s district finals.
Kendall Dorey doubled in the bottom of the first and scored on a groundout by Hope O’Reilly. Wayne would get an insurance run in the third when Kayla Fleming doubled, scoring Dorey.
Wayne, 28-3, will be one of the eight hosts for the best-of-3 district finals on Friday. Their opponent and game time will be announced by the NSAA on Wednesday.
