Patriot softball falls in semifinal

FORT WAYNE — The Vikings nearly hit at will.
The Patriots had a difficult time stringing together offense.
Huntington North struck for 18 hits, including four home runs, in a 17-2 defeat of the Jay County High School softball team Tuesday in the Class 4A Sectional 6 semifinal at Homestead.
The Vikings advance to the sectional championship game at 5 p.m. Thursday against the host Spartans, who torched the Wayne Generals 20-0 in the first semifinal Tuesday.
“We knew going in we were going to have to score a lot of runs,” said JCHS coach Doug Arbuckle, whose team ends its season at 14-14 after going 23-2 in 2014. “I didn’t know we’d have to score 18 runs.
“Hats off to them. They relaxed up there at the plate. Once you get the lead like that it takes a lot of pressure off of you.”
HNHS coach Darci Brown said she has been looking for the Vikings to put together seven solid innings of production all season.
“A lot of girls who have been struggling at the bat were able to step up tonight and get some base hits,” she said.
Sophomore Makenzi Cannici sparked the offense for the Vikings (12-14) with a solo home run in the third inning. Her blast off McKayla Norris gave her team a 3-1 lead, and she capped off a six-run fourth with a no-doubt= two-run shot to left field. Madi Kennedy and Kelsie Vogleman each had two-run singles in the frame.
Cannici added a single in the seventh to finish 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Vogleman was also 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Kennedy drove in a pair of runs on two hits. She had a triple in the seventh.
Vogelman drove in Ariene Butler in the fifth inning to give the Vikings a 10-1 lead, and the four-time defending sectional champions added seven more runs in the seventh.
Kendra Arnold, who recorded the pitching win, hit a two-run single and Morgan Brown added a three-run home run that hit the top of the fence in left field and caromed over.
Meanwhile, Jay County — it had eight hits and drew a pair of walks — couldn’t compile hits together to push runs across.
Chloe Steigerwalt hit a single in the first innin and swiped second to get in scoring position. Two batters later, Gabby Hart hit an RBI single through the right side to drive her in.
Then Arnold found her groove, retiring eight straight batters before Hart drew a one-out walk in the fourth.
“She did a great job of hitting her spots,” Brown said. Arnold scattered five hits over five innings while striking out four. She allowed both Jay County runs. “She was able to move the ball. She’s got some junk that worked tonight. She’s been developing that all season.”
Jay County freshman Chloe Trissel led off the home half of the fifth inning with a triple on a blooper to right field. She hit a 1-2 pitch to shallow right, and the ball had enough English on it that when it hit the ground it was just out of Alyssa Voght’s reach. By the time Voght scooped it up, Trissel was already on her way to third.
Trissel scored two batters later on a ground out by Emily Corn. Steigerwalt, who was 3-for-4, hit a double to right center field. She had a chance to score on a single from Courtney Finnerty, but she was gunned down at the plate to end the inning.
“We just couldn’t put (anything) together,” Arbuckle said. “We’d get a hit or two and they’d get us out.
“The consistency just wasn’t there that we needed all the way through the lineup when you’re playing a team of this caliber.”