By RYAN WALKER
CONVERSE — Last year, the Peru Tigers ended the Norwell Knights’ softball season in a heartbreaker. It was the sectional championship, and the Knights were on a roll, beating Oak Hill in extra innings and Maconaquah.
But the Tigers topped the Knights 12-4 nearly a year ago to the date — certainly a stinger that rang all throughout the off-season.
“Peru knocked us out last year in the sectional championship, and it’s something I’ve used as motivation,” Norwell head coach Kevin Baird said Tuesday night. “This entire season we’ve talked about Peru and just talking about this game and getting an opportunity to come back and play our game against a good team.”
The sectional pairing gave Norwell a chance at revenge. To summarize it shortly, they got their payback.
Norwell (15-7) starting pitcher Sami Lemler, who started last year’s game too, shoved through the first three innings and struck out seven of her first nine outs in three innings at Oak Hill High School.
At the plate, the Knights knocked home eight runs that began with Kara Brown and Kaydance Clark’s RBI singles in the first. In the second, Brown drove in another on a base hit, now up to a .500 batting average. Reese Frauhiger and Nevada Lenwell drove in two more, and a bases-loaded walk brought in another.
Norwell didn’t even drive in the seventh and eighth runs, as a passed ball by starting pitcher Jaylah Harlan plated two runs.
Baird’s sentiment of what Peru (15-11) did to them last year brought a knockout blow in the first inning that the Tigers didn’t come back off the mat from.
“It’s huge,” Baird said of the fast start. “I think the two strikeouts and then turn around with Jordan’s double. Just hitting the ball and scoring a couple of runs. I think it kind of settles you real quick because you get a two-run lead in the first inning and you just keep chipping.”
As Lemler was dealing, the Grace College signee smacked a triple and was driven home by Lenwell’s RBI single to finish the job in the fourth inning.
Lemler’s final two innings of her five-inning shutout needed some defensive help. In the fourth, a bloop single put a runner on first and third. Lemler caught a comebacker in the air and fired over to first to record a double play. Then, a harmless ground ball to Addie Keller at second base ended the threat.
In the fifth, Lemler stranded a few more runners and kept the 10-run mercy rule intact.
Part of her performance both on the mound and at the plate might have been fueled by the name on the jerseys in the other dugout, but Baird knew what he was doing when he put the season in the hands of his senior.
“Composure. She’s a senior this year — I trust her,” Baird said. “There’s certain pitch sequences we’ve worked on quite a bit and so I know that when she gets herself behind, we have a couple of pitches that we know that we settle into that she throws really well, high percentage strike, and try to fight back.”
“She’s a competitor. That’s something I love about her,” Baird said.
With the win, Norwell will head right back to Oak Hill to face the hosting school. The Golden Eagles, who boast the sectional’s best record at 20-6, might be plotting their revenge on Norwell. The Knights won 8-6 in extras last season when the two squared off at Bellmont.
The game will approximately start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 22.
ryan@news-banner.com
