Nodaway Valley fights through adversity

GREENFIELD – A rally during the middle innings put Nodaway Valley back in contention for an upset before falling to Class 1A No. 4 Wayne (4-2) 11-5 Friday.

With an injury to Nodaway Valley’s scheduled starting pitcher and no one else warmed up, Whitney Lamb started in the circle.

“We had a lot of adversity, but the girls bounced back and it didn’t affect them. I’m very proud of that,” Nodaway Valley head coach Abbey Queck said.

Wayne took advantage early, putting up three runs in the first inning on Lamb, while the Wolverines offense went down quickly in the first two innings.

In the top of the third, Wayne’s offense picked back up again with an RBI ground-rule double from Emily Jones, RBI double from Camryn Jacobsen and a two-run home run off the bat of Mya Willey to extend the Falcons’ lead to their largest of the game, 7-0.

Lamb ended her day with two innings pitched, allowing seven earned runs while striking out one. Senior Bailey Kuster, who had only pitched four varsity innings before Friday, entered in relief for Lamb.

Nodaway Valley’s senior right fielder McKynna Newbury started the third inning off with a single and two stolen bases. Madison Fry walked and took second with no one covering second base to put runners on second and third with no outs.

Newbury scored on an errant throw to third to give Nodaway Valley its first run. After a single from Reagan Weinheimer, Fry and Weinheimer crossed the plate from wild pitches to cut the deficit to 7-3.

A walk put one runner on for Alyssa Davis, who drove a two-run home run over the left-field fence to send the Wolverine bench into a frenzy and swing the momentum with the score at 7-5.

“They have a lot of fight,” Queck said on what she learned during the inning. “If you look at their other programs, they’re all very successful. I think softball is coming along, and it shows the fight and competitiveness that they have inside themselves in every sport.”

The five-run third inning was a major boost for the offense, but it couldn’t keep up with the Falcons.

Kuster slowed down Wayne’s bats, but the Falcons put up one run in the fourth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh inning to continue stretching the lead.

After the offensive barrage in the bottom half of the third inning, Wayne’s starter Maddy Wood was taken out for left-hander Sterling Berndt. Wood threw three innings, allowing five runs, three earned, and struck out four Wolverines.

The Wolverine offense struggled against Berndt, not tallying one hit during her four innings. She also struck out eight batters.

“We had good, quality at-bats. Those are two great pitchers, probably some of the best we’ll see all year,” Queck said.

Ending the first week, Queck was happy with what she saw, but she was going to think about one important thing she noticed.

“The highs and low,” Queck said. “(Thursday) night we didn’t play our best game and I’m very proud of the girls because they did bounce back today. They came out and we had a lot of adversity. We always talk about the two things we can control is our attitude and our effort. ... We did that.”

UP NEXT – Nodaway Valley (3-4) travels to Southwest Valley (1-2) for a 7:30 p.m. start time today (Monday).

Wayne 11, Nodaway Valley 5

R  H  E

WY  304  102  1 —  11 16  1

NV  005  000  0 —  5  5  1

WY: Maddy Wood 3IP 4Ks 2BB, Sterling Berndt 4IP 8Ks 0BB and Camryn Jacobsen. NV: Mason Whitney Lamb 2IP 1K 1BB, Baily Kuster 4IP 0K 0BB and Sophia Chafa. W - Wood. L - Lamb. HR — WY: Mya Wiley. NV: Alyssa Davis. 3B — None. 2B —WY: Jacobsen (2), Berndt (1), Emily Jones (1) and Wiley (1). RBI — WY: Jones (5), Wiley (4), Berndt (1) and Jacobsen (1). NV: Davis (2). Multiple hits — WY: Katy Gibbs (4), Gibbs (3) Jones (2), Jacobsen (2) and Allie Wik (2).