Splitsville: 2 different softball games played by Trojans, Demons

WASHINGTON — The fifth-ranked softball team in Class 4A cruised to a 14-5 win over Washington in a Southeast Conference doubleheader Monday night. Fairfield then lost the second softball game in five innings, 12-2.

“It’s not like their coach didn’t warn them about this happening and yet that is exactly what happened,” Trojans coach Bob Bradfield said. Base running mistakes hurt and the Trojans lost focus. “It’s hard to explain, but nobody’s going to win any games if they can’t make plays on defense.”

Fairfield had six errors in the second game, Washington five in the first.

Hannah Simpson highlighted the Fairfield win with four RBIs, a single, a double and her fifth home run, eighth-best total in Class 4A.

“I wasn’t swinging for the fences, I just want to hit a hard ball to get runners in,” said Simpson, who was confident the Trojans could rally in Game 2. “We’ve come back from a bigger deficit. We had some errors that we need to clean up.”

Coty Engle got the Trojan win with 10 strikeouts, eight hits, two walks and three earned runs. She helped her cause with a single, a double and a triple.

Washington’s Emmy Wenger hit a home run while teammates Kellie Dallmeyer and Ella Greiner each had three hits. Greiner connected on her fourth triple, a stat that leads Class 4A.

Greiner’s fellow eighth-grader, Halle Cuddeback, shut the Trojans down with no walks and three strikeouts in the win.

Cuddeback threw multiple pitches for strikes against a “good-hitting team, hitting corners and that gave us a great win, bouncing back from a tough loss,“ Washington coach Ben Obermann said. ”Halle was tremendous and her back was hurting so we wanted to end it in five because she wasn’t going to come out.“

Greiner had three hits again and Wenger three RBIs. Simpson went 2-for-3.

“I wasn’t pitching the best, but I had the support of my defense behind me,” said Cuddeback, who went 3-for-3 at the plate. “I’ve had some back pains, but I had a lot of people that were here to support me.”

“She is good at not throwing the ball down the middle, changing speeds and the ball was dropping,” Bradfield said. "Washington came out and hit the ball.“

Fairfield is 6-2 SEC, 10-7 overall. Washington is 5-3, 10-12.