Perfect storm of good

ST. HENRY - The St. Henry softball team has endured a tough season, but coach Kylie Huelsman always believed something good was on the horizon.

"I told the girls after our loss to New Bremen last night that one of these days it's all going to come together," Huelsman said. "I know we have the talent. I know we have the potential. We know what we're doing, but for whatever reason, it had been the perfect storm of bad up to this point."

It was the perfect storm of good on Friday.

Nora Vaughn, Alana Kunkler, Olivia Winner and Addy Vaughn all had two hits and every player in the Redskin lineup had a least one hit as they picked up their second victory of the season with a 12-5 result over Anna on Senior Night at Wally Post Athletic Complex.

Anna entered the game with a 12-4 record and had already knocked off St. Henry by a score of 15-11 on April 13. But on this day, the Redskins erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning and then got a solo home run from Kunkler and two additional runs in the sixth to keep the Rockets at a safe distance.

"That big inning for us was really important, but I do think that Alana's home run was really the switch," Huelsman said. "It was the one thing that we needed just to keep us motivated to keep going. She's been good at doing that all season."

Anna scored a run in the first, got a solo home run from Riley Osborn in the fourth and capitalized on three errors for three runs in the fifth.

St. Henry starter Hannah Oakley pitched all seven innings, allowing five hits and just two earned runs while striking out three and walking one.

"Pitching has been consistent all year," Huelsman said. "Hannah's done a good job of throwing strikes and not giving away too many freebies. That's been a good thing. It tests our defense at times, but what we expect out of her is to throw strikes and give us opportunities to get outs."

Addy Vaughn tied the score at 1-1 with an RBI double in the second. Kunkler gave St. Henry the lead with a two-out double in the third, scoring Nora Vaughn after she had singled the at-bat before.

St. Henry extended its lead to 9-2 with seven runs in the fourth. Twelve batters came to the plate in the inning and five had hits. Taylor Rammel and Nora Vaughn had doubles, Winner and Oakley each singled and Addy Vaughn knocked two home with a hit. Anna also committed half of its eight errors in the fourth.

"It's good to pick up a win, especially on Senior Night," Huelsman said. "We had one little tough stretch and we got through it. We were mentally ready and prepared. We hit the ball well. The things we haven't been doing consistently all season we came out and did for a full game today."

Addy Vaughn had a game-high three RBIs. Nora Vaughn, Rammel and Robyn Lefeld also added RBIs.

St. Henry opens tournament play at Marion Local on Monday. The Flyers defeated the Redskins 12-3 on April 5 in St. Henry.