Softball: Serena opens Little Ten season with 11-1 victory over Hiawatha

SERENA – During three games at Saturday’s Seneca Irish Invitational softball tournament, Serena’s Paisley Twait didn’t feel she hit the ball as well as she should have.

She couldn’t say the same Monday afternoon after helping the Huskers open their home and Little Ten Conference season with an 11-1 victory in six innings over Hiawatha.

Batting No. 3 in the order, Twait finished the contest 4 for 4 – hitting the ball hard each time up – with a double, three runs scored, three RBIs and a pair of stolen bases.

“I really wanted to come out today and hit well, not only for me, but for the team as well. Hopefully today got me back on the right track.”

—  Serena's Paisley Twait after going a perfect 4 for 4 with three RBIs

“I feel I’ve hit the ball pretty well so far this season, other than on Saturday at Seneca,” Twait said. “I didn’t hit up to my own standards or up to how I feel I should. I didn’t have the best pitch selection, granted the pitchers we faced Saturday were a little different as far as spin goes than today, but I just didn’t do as good a job of swinging at good pitches.

“I really wanted to come out today and hit well, not only for me, but for the team as well. Hopefully today got me back on the right track.”

Serena (4-4, 1-0 LTC) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as Katie Baker smacked a one-out single followed by back-to-back, run-scoring hits by Twait and Lanee Cole.

The hosts added a run in the third on another RBI from Twait, then Cali Edwards doubled in the fourth and scored after consecutive wild pitches. The Huskers added a pair of runs in the fifth on a Jenna Setchell RBI single and an RBI double to right-center off the bat of winning pitcher Maddie Glade.

“We had the lead late against Seneca on Saturday, and then they just chipped away against us,” Serena coach Kelly Baker said. “We talked about how that’s the kind of team we want to be. I thought we did a great job of getting the lead early and then just kept adding to it here and there. Big innings come around every now and then, but I think being a team that can push across runs in every inning is just as effective.

“Every girl, up and down the lineup, hit the ball hard today, which was awesome to see.”

Serena exploded for five runs in the sixth – including RBI hits from Katie Baker, Twait and Setchell – to end the game via the 10-run rule.

Glade went the distance, giving up just two hits, one earned run, one walk and striking out nine. She found the strike zone on 53 of her 83 pitches.

“Maddie pitched a very solid, steady game for us,” coach Baker said. “She’s been working on some things, including staying mentally strong if she gets behind a batter. I thought as a freshman she did an excellent job with that today. We also made a couple of really nice plays defensively behind her in a couple tight spots.”

The Hawks (0-5, 0-3) scored their only run in the fourth when Calli Schell tagged a double to left to start the inning, stole third and scored on a throwing error. Grace Bolin recorded the only other hit for the visitors with a single to right in the sixth.

Losing pitcher Brianna Block allowed 13 hits and eight earned runs with three walks and three strikeouts.

“We haven’t hit the ball very well yet this season or been able to string multiple hits together,” Hiawatha coach Mark Rush said. “We talk a lot about having confidence in the box, but we have a lot of girls that haven’t had a ton of experience or are young overall.

“We’re taking good swings, but just not connecting. We’ve also faced some really good pitching in our first five games, but I know we can and will hit the ball better as the season progresses and some of these girls get more chances with the bat.

“We also can play better defense, and we’ve played better defense in games already this season. I thought Brianna pitched pretty well today, but she had a few too many wild pitches, which hurt.”