VandeWall’s bat powers PCM past Hawks

MONROE — According to Prairie City-Monroe sophomore Katie VandeWall, the preseason practices hadn’t been going too well for her at the plate.

But after Wednesday night’s effort offensively, VandeWall may be singing a different tune come Thursday morning.

VandeWall homered, tripled, doubled twice, scored three runs and drove in three more to power the Mustangs to a 5-0 win over South Hamilton in the team’s home and season opener.

Senior pitcher Rachel Freland also fired a four-hitter in getting her first victory of the season.

“I’ve kind of been struggling in practice. I have been working on it though and tonight it just worked out for me. I felt good,” VandeWall said. “It feels good to get a win. We have such a close team. It’s really fun playing with all these girls. They are my best friends and the atmosphere is great and it makes it so much more enjoyable to play.”

VandeWall made every one of her at-bats count Wednesday. She drove the ball the top of the fence in left field in the first inning and that RBI triple drove in Jayci Vos and gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. VandeWall scored one play later off a passed ball.

The lead grew to 3-0 in the third as VandeWall led off the frame with a double. She laced it to the gap in right-center field and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Chelbie Gillespie.

Leading off the fifth, VandeWall drove the first pitch she saw over the fence in centerfield. It was a no-doubter.

“She had a phenomenal day. She is seeing the ball well and hitting the ball well. She had a great day and we hope to see more of that this season,” PCM coach Whitney Plein said.

The final three hits for VandeWall came on first pitches from South Hamilton starter Adi Wintermote. The final hit was a double that brought home Abby Waddell, who reached on an error to start the frame.

“In the spring, I struggled with watching the first and final pitch, and it has been something that I really wanted to work on this season,” VandeWalI said. “I want to see that first one, go at it and not watch it go by. I don’t want to be in the position later of ‘should I swing or not.’”

South Hamilton didn’t score but it had plenty of chances to do so.

The Hawks put at least one runner in scoring position in their first five at-bats but couldn’t get over the hump against Frleland.

They stranded the bases loaded in the second inning and then left two more on in the third. Overall, the Hawks stranded 10 runners on base, while PCM stranded seven.

“They came in with the expectations that we are going to get better every day,” Plein said. “Today was a good start. Everyone came out and did their job. I felt like everyone contributed in some way, which is overall what I want.

“Rachel had a excellent day. She did what she needed to do. She kept the baserunners off base and the hitters off balance and she threw a great game.”

Aside from VandeWall, the Mustangs also got three hits from sophomore Kayla Jennings and senior Molly Vignovich added two hits and a walk. Abby Waddell also had two hits and scored a run.

The only thing PCM did wrong in the win was with baserunning. They collectively were doubled off the bases twice and both times it ended what was expected to be big inning offensively.

“We are going to be more aggressive and that comes from it,” Pleain said. “We do have some things to work on. I think that’s one thing to build off of. We just need to be better tomorrow than we were today.”

PCM returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on the road against Greene County. The Mustangs stay on the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it faces Roland-Story.