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New Bremen's Adilyn Albers is tagged out by St. Henry catcher Hannah Gast during Thursday's MAC softball contest.
NEW BREMEN - St. Henry's offense wasn't looking for the perfect pitch - it was looking for confidence.
The Redskins may have found it Thursday night.
After spotting New Bremen a three-run lead, St. Henry flipped the script thanks to a balanced and confident approach at the plate, piling up 13 hits and scoring all 13 of their runs across a four-inning stretch to claim a 13-5 victory in Midwest Athletic Conference play. The Redskins improved to 3-5 and 1-0 in MAC play. The Cardinals fell to 3-3 and 0-1.
"We've had a lot of strikeouts within our first seven games, so building confidence at the plate today was the key to winning the game," St. Henry coach Alexis Ontrop said. "When our bats are out, we can do it. It's just about having confidence to get out there and get hits."
New Bremen struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, stringing together disciplined at-bats. Olivia Thornton singled to start the game, followed by a bunt single from Mariana Muether. Adi Albers delivered a two-run single to put Bremen on the board, and later in the inning, Halle Kuenning doubled. Her pinch runner, Leila Wallace, came around to score on a wild pitch, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage.
New Bremen's MariAna Muether attempts to bunt the ball during Thursday's game at New Bremen.
In the third inning, Emma Buschur led off with a triple. Paige Felver and Natalie Schwieterman executed perfectly placed bunt singles, and Samantha Miller drove in two runs with a single.
New Bremen answered in its half of the third. Albers and Kuenning opened with singles, and runs came home on a sacrifice fly by Alayna Pape and a hit from Lilly Homan, briefly steadying Bremen's lead.
That's when St. Henry took control for good.
The fourth inning opened with three straight hits from Renee Wendel, Olivia Gast and Buschur. Felver followed with a two-run double, and Schwieterman added a single. Felver later scored on heads-up baserunning on an infield ground ball.
St. Henry's Paige Felver (9) slides into home plate as New Bremen catcher Halle Kuenning gets the ball during Thursday's MAC softball matchup at New Bremen High School.
"We didn't expect it to go exactly like it did after falling behind 3-0," Ontrop said. "But no, I was not expecting an eight-run win."
The fifth inning brought more of the same. Miller tripled to lead off and scored when Breonna McCoy put the ball in play. Wendel was hit by a pitch, Gast drove in a run with a single, and Felver added a sacrifice fly. Schwieterman capped the inning with another RBI single.
In the sixth, Gast delivered a two-run single, and Felver added yet another RBI on a sacrifice fly to close the scoring.
Gast led the offensive charge, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Miller, McCoy, Buschur and Schwieterman each collected two hits, while Felver drove in four runs.
In the circle, Wendel went the distance, allowing 10 hits while striking out two and walking one. Eight of those hits came in the first three innings, but she settled in as the game progressed.
"She was able to lock in toward the end and really start hitting her spots," Ontrop said. "She's been pretty solid throughout the season."
Defensively, St. Henry also passed a key test.
"The defense was pretty solid. We had four girls playing new positions for the first time today," Ontrop said. "For them to come out here, pick it up and play solid, it was great."
For New Bremen, the fast start faded as St. Henry's pressure mounted.
"They started putting the ball in play hard and we kind of fell apart defensively," Bremen coach Gary Moeder said. "There were plays we thought we should have made that we didn't. We made a few mistakes which could have cut down on a few runs they scored. ... But we're young. Talking with the girls after the game, we're starting five sophomores and at one point tonight, we had five freshmen playing. We've got a lot of growing up to do.
"Defensively, we're capable of making good plays. The girls know that," he added. "We want them to be aggressive. Hopefully they don't back down on that."
Kuenning led New Bremen with three hits, while Homan and Albers each added two.
