YATES CENTER — Yates Center High’s softball team picked up two more dominating victories on its way to a lofty postseason seeding.
The Wildcats dispatched visiting Crest, 17-1 and 14-2, improving to 13-3 on the year. Crest falls to 4-12.
The Lady Lancers broke first into the scoring column when McKenna Hammond singled in Lindsey Godderz, but it didn’t take long for Yates Center to respond.
Morgan Collins blasted a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 Wildcat lead.
Molly Proper’s two-run double was followed by an RBI double from Collins in the second inning. Three Lancer errors and a passed ball extended Yates Center’s cushion to 11-1 by the end of the inning.
Grace Westerman, Hannah Jones and Proper followed with RBI singles as part of a six-run third inning to end the game.
Collins, who had a double, home run and four RBIs, pitched the first two innings before a sore arm prompted head coach Abbie Collins to call on Proper to finish things off.
The Younger Collins allowed one hit with two strikeouts. Proper allowed one hit with a strikeout in her inning of work.
Proper had three singles and four RBIs. Jones had a pair of singles and an RBI. Westerman had two singles and two RBIs, Chrisman singled twice and Callyn Miller chipped in with a single.
Godderz and Hammond had Crest’s singles.
A SIX-RUN first inning and five-run second propelled the Wildcats in Game 2, with contributions up and down the lineup. Yates Center cranked out 12 hits in the victory.
Collins had two singles and a double, while Miller had three singles and two RBIs. Jones followed with two singles and two RBIs. Emma Grogg drove in three with a single and double. Westerman had a double. Proper and Addie Solander had a single.
Proper pitched all five innings, striking out five and allowing one earned run.
Kayla Hermreck accounted for both of Crest’s runs. She drove in Lili Blaufuss with an RBI triple in the fourth and scored on an error.
She went 2-for-2 with a single. Adding singles were Godderz, Blaufuss, Allyssa Adams and Brooklynn Jones.
