Northwest sweeps final home doubleheaders
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Northwest freshman first baseman Alexis Kelsey blasts a two-run homer to center field during Saturday’s sweep of Missouri Southern in the Bearcats’ final home contests of the 2016 season.
In the final home games of the season for the Northwest softball team, perhaps no stars shined brighter than two of its impact seniors.
Kendle Schieber and Sarah Baldwin, who’ve served as the foundation for the Bearcats’ record-breaking season on the mound, pitched their final home games in green on Saturday in 9-1 and 8-0 wins over Missouri Southern. Game one saw Schieber pitch five innings while allowing just one earned run to accompany seven strikeouts, and Baldwin matched those seven strikeouts with five innings of shutout ball.
“They both threw well. They got all the outs they needed to,” Bearcats head coach Ryan Anderson said. “The only run that scored all weekend was the girl that walked and then there was a little bloop, and somehow, she got around to score. They both threw really well and that’s what we’ve got to have this time of year.”
With plenty of offense at their backs, the two senior pitchers helped put Northwest in position to make a run for the MIAA crown with six regular-season games left to play.
Saturday’s wins against the Lions came on the heels of a pair of shutout victories for the Bearcats on Friday against league-leading Pittsburg State, 1-0 and 3-0. Those wins, heading into Saturday, put Northwest just two games back of Missouri Western and the Gorillas.
Schieber pitched nine shutout innings in game one before senior designated hitter Madison Jones slapped a single into left field that scored senior third baseman Chantel Adams for the walk-off win. Baldwin’s seven shutout innings in game two completed the sweep.
The two wins over the Gorillas gave Northwest 31 wins, the fastest the Bearcats have eclipsed 30 wins in a season in program history.
“(Pittsburg State) is still above us, but it gives us a little bit better shot,” Anderson said. “And it sure helps regionally. They’re going to be ranked regionally, but it’s going to help us to get ranked regionally as well. That’s what we want to do — we want to play after the conference season is over and keep it going.”
Emotional wins over the rival Gorillas could’ve affected Northwest negatively heading into winnable contests with Missouri Southern on Saturday.
It didn’t happen.
Instead, the Bearcat offense came alive to rack up five first-inning runs in game one thanks to a flurry of singles and small-ball. The only run Northwest gave up all weekend came when Lions center fielder Alana Hester’s single scored second baseman Myranda Stewart, but it wouldn’t be near enough.
“We’ve been trying to work on just being more aggressive at the plate,” Anderson said. “It seems like when we sit up there and take pitches, we are not a very good hitting team. When we get up there ready to swing, we hit well. That’s what we wanted to do today.”
The Bearcats rounded out the weekend by again jumping on Missouri Southern early in game two. Freshman first baseman Alexis Kelsey, sophomore catcher Jessica Rawie and Schieber, playing left field, each came up with RBI in the first inning for a 4-0 lead after one.
Kelsey lifted a shot into the jet stream headed to dead center for a mammoth two-run home run in the second frame, and another rout was on. Finally, with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, freshman right fielder Jaedra Moses swatted a single into left field to put an early stop to Northwest’s doubleheader sweep.
“We talked about (staying determined) after the Pitt State game,” Anderson said. “We knew that Pitt State was a tough game and then coming back today, with the wind blowing 20 miles per hour in the other direction, it’s a whole different game. The pitchers needed to keep the ball down and move it a little bit more. … We tried to have that approach coming into today that we had to be smart.”
With six games to go, all on the road, the Bearcats (33-9, 17-5) are squarely in contention for the conference crown. Northwest will play two non-conference games against No. 18 Missouri Western starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday in St. Joseph.
The season will end with road doubleheaders at Emporia State and Washburn on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23.
“We feel good about it because we know what we can do now,” Anderson said. “We just have to keep executing and keep playing, because there’s a lot of season left hopefully.”
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Sophomore shortstop Rebecca Maher scoops a grounder and throws to first to record an out on Saturday against Missouri Southern, a two-game sweep for Northwest.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
In her final two home games for Northwest, senior pitcher Sarah Baldwin threw 12 combined shutout innings against Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Bearcats freshman first baseman Alexis Kelsey takes a throw from sophomore catcher Jessica Rawie to complete a strikeout against Missouri Southern on Saturday, a doubleheader sweep with wins of 9-1 and 8-0.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Junior second baseman Torri Blythe tosses to first base for an out as the Bearcats swept Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern over the weekend.
