Softball: Kiki Mitchell, Genoa-Kingston slug past Forreston

GENOA – It’s just two wins. But for the players on the Genoa-Kingston softball team, it’s validation of their lofty expectations for the season.

The Cogs pounded out 10 hits as they improved to 2-0 with a five-inning, 13-3 win over Forreston on Friday.

“Today went really well, and it’s a show for what we’re going to do for the rest of the season,” senior pitcher and first baseman Kiki Mitchell said. “A lot of us play travel ball together, so we’re with each other 365 days out of the year. I think we have a really good momentum going from fall ball, winter ball all the way into here. We’ve been together for so many years, it’s clicking for this team.”

G-K got off to a strong start in the first inning when Emily Trzynka launched a ball into right field that was misplayed. She never stopped running and scored. Lizzy Davis, who started in the circle for the Cogs (2-0), launched an RBI triple in the inning. Olivia Vasak and Mitchell also had hits.

The Cogs tacked on four more in the bottom of the second, three of which were unearned off reliever Aubrey Sanders. Brooklynn Ordlock started the inning with the Cogs’ only single, coming around to score on a wild pitch.

“We started the season with some lofty goals, and the girls have really put in a lot of work,” G-K coach Erica Swan said. “They started out the first game against Harvard locked in and they came [Friday] ready to do the same thing.”

The Cardinals (1-2) chased Davis in the fourth when Aspen Niesman launched a two-run double into left-center, scoring Ella Ingram and Nevaeh Housten. The whole rally happened with two outs, though Mitchell came on in relief and stamped out the Forreston rally.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way these girls never gave up,” Forreston coach Zoie Sellers said. “Their energy is just something that is awesome, something I couldn’t be more proud of, really. It’s all about energy in this game.”

After scoring in every inning in a win over Harvard to start the year, the Cogs scored in four of the five innings Friday. Vasak was 2 for 3, scored twice and plated Trzynka with a walk-off single in the bottom of the fifth.

Swan said the six seniors on the roster, four of whom are four-year starters, are leading the way. Mitchell said given how long most of the team has been playing together, their expectations are very high.

“This year especially it’s crazy because the seniors have been on this team for four years now,” Mitchell said. “It’s crazy we’ve had this kind of start because we’ve never started 2-0 in a season. We’re really excited about this.”

Housten and Niesman had the only two hits for the Cardinals.

Sanders allowed four earned runs, eight total, in three-plus innings in relief. Sellers said Sanders has the right fire inside of her and the tough character to be a reliever and expects her to come on in late-game situations throughout the year.

“We’ve tried her in that relief spot the last two games,” Sellers said. “She’s going to be an excellent relief pitcher for us. I think that’s going to be the permanent spot for her to come in. I think that’s where she’ll dominate.

Davis had two hits and scored twice, while Ari Rich scored three times after reaching on an error twice and getting hit by a pitch.

Davis pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, two earned. She struck out five in her first start of the year. She missed all of last season with an injury and Swan, after pitching Trzynka and Mitchell against Harvard, wanted to get Davis some work in the circle.

“She did great, she shut them down,” Swan said. “I really just switched them in that inning to not push her too hard. They’re a really good 1-2 punch. They’re both really accurate and have a lot of pitches to complement each other.”