WEST ALEXANDRIA — Something had to give when Eaton traveled to Twin Valley South on Saturday, April 8, for a softball doubleheader.
Eaton came in riding a three-game losing streak after starting the season 5-1, while Twin Valley South was 0-4.
Both team’s had struggled to score runs.
The Eagles were able to snap out of their offensive funk and rolled to a pair of wins, 13-2 and 23-1, leaving the Panthers still searching for their first win of the 2017 season under second-year coach Nick Randall.
In the first game, sophomore Annika Gels tossed a complete game and struck out 11. She also was 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI.
Sophomore Becca Mowen added two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while junior Bailee Worley added a pair of hits and stole two bases.
For the game, Eaton pounded out 18 hits.
In game two, Eaton took advantage of an inexperienced South pitching staff to jump out to a 9-0 lead after the first inning.
The Eagles never looked back in claiming the win.
“Overall, this weekend with South, I was very pleased with what we were able to do. In game two, our starters were able to get a big enough lead that we were able to get some young people some experience. As a team we needed these two wins after the rough week we had,” said Eaton’s third-year coach Maggie Neanen.
Neanen said her team had played its toughest opponents to date earlier in the week.
“This was our hardest week of games starting it with Franklin, losing 6-0, then playing a tough Arcanum, losing 13-4 and again with Franklin in probably the best game I’ve seen us play as far as focus,” she said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish the game due to rain so we lost 1-0 in 6 innings. We kept telling our girls that we had to just stay mentally in it and get through this week and we would be fine — obviously we would have wanted more wins but I think this week made us a tougher team.”
Eaton (7-4, 1-3 SWBL) was scheduled to play at Brookville on Monday and will host the Blue Devils on Wednesday. The Eagles will travel to Tippecanoe on Thursday before wrapping up the week with a doubleheader at home with St. Henry on Saturday.
South (0-6, 0-2 CCC), was scheduled to play Middletown Christian on Monday and Mississinawa Valley on Tuesday. The Panthers will host Newton on Wednesday then travel to Oakwood on Thursday and Tri-Village on Friday.
