Coming off an emotional 3-0 win over Dunbar High School Monday night, the Western Hills softball team posted another win by beating visiting Owen County 8-1 Tuesday night.
Strong defense held the Lady Rebels to four hits and the Lady Wolverines had seven hits. Owen County made one error and Western Hills made two.
"We've had two good wins," head coach Jeff Pritchett said, "and anytime you can get a win around here it's a good win. So, we're excited about that."
"Our defense and our pitching are going to set the tone for us all season. We're very fortunate to have a substantial number of good pitchers and we have very solid defense. I feel confident that that's one of our strong attributes," he said.
Miranda Buchanan pitched four innings, struck out nine batters and gave up no runs, and Stephanie Wade pitched three innings, struck out two batters and gave up one run.
April Lancaster, who was 1-for-3 from the plate in Tuesday night's game, said she's excited about how well her team has started the season.
"I think that beating Dunbar was not only a good way to start the season off, but it provided closure on last season," Lancaster said.
"I think we're at a different level after shutting Dunbar out. It was awesome. (Tonight), our defense did well, though there were some balls they hit into gaps. I think arms weren't really loose early, but our defense always carries us," she said.
The Lady Wolverines led 1-0 after the first inning and made some strides in the second inning when Sabrina Sandoval doubled to left field and Katie Wiard batted her in on a single. Buchanan claimed three batters each in the third and the fourth innings, and the defense held them to one hit.
Wiard reached home on an error in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Lauren Triplett batted in Lancaster to put Western Hills (2-0) up 4-0.
The Lady Rebels could not reach base in the top of the fifth inning, and Lady Wolverines scored three more runs. Stephanie Wade singled and Sandoval reached first on a fielder's choice. Kenzie Criswell tried to tag Wade out at home but was unsuccessful.
Tara Arnold doubled to score Sandoval and Wiard's sacrifice scored Arnold. In the top of the next inning, the Lady Rebels (0-1) avoided a shutout when Criswell doubled to center field to score Jensen Waintscott.
The Lady Wolverines scored their final run when Triplett reached home on an error.
"We're trying to put a lot of pressure on (teams' defense) this year and the girls responded and got some runs when they needed to," Pritchett said. "Our goal is to be the aggressor and the girls did a good job of doing what we asked," he added.
The Lady Wolverines have three seniors along with several juniors, sophomores and freshmen, but Pritchett said that while his team is young they have a lot of experience.
Some of the stronger teams that Western Hills will face this season include Ballard, Oldham County, Henry County, and Pritchett said the 41st District is one of the tougher districts in the 11th Region. He said his team beat Woodford County twice last year, so he is expecting them to have it out for the Western Hills.
"Every time you play those teams you have to bring your "A' game," Pritchett said.
Western Hills' next home game will be next Wednesday when the Lady Wolverines will face Oldham County at 5:30 p.m.