Softball: Wolf Pack top Stars for OGFA 11U city championship

OTTAWA — During the Ottawa Girls Fastpitch Association 11U regular season, the Pilkington Wolf Pack and the Ottawa Savings Bank Stars each had recorded a victory over the other.

So, when both teams advanced to Saturday morning’s tournament championship contest at Peck Park, it figured to be another thrilling matchup.

While both teams put together solid overall efforts, it was the Wolf Pack coming away with a 13-6 victory after scoring multiple runs in four of the five innings of play.

“These girls across the board — hitting, pitching and fielding — all improved so much this season,” Wolf Pack coach Adam Boaz said, his squad finishing the season 15-1. “We were fortunate that a number of these girls were playing together for the third season in a row, and I think that helped us have the season we did.

“Today I thought we did a pretty good job of hitting the ball hard, made a couple of really solid defensive plays, and our pitchers did a great job of throwing strikes.”

The Wolf Pack grabbed the lead for good in the top of the first inning with an RBI single by Emileigh Jaegle and a run-scoring double to the fence in centerfield by Adyssen Boaz. The Stars made it 2-1 in the second on a RBI triple to right off the bat of Kayleeann Cooper.

“The season was really fun, and today just made it even better.”

—  Emileigh Jaegle, Wolf Pack

The Wolf Pack scored three times in the third on RBI singles from Boaz, Mady Lubelski and Annabelle Calhan, then added five tallies in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Alyssa Bell, a three-run triple by Jaegle and an RBI double by Boaz.

The Stars plated four runs in their half of the fourth highlighted by RBI hits from Lennon Knott and Emily Kazmierczak.

“This team has played great all season long and has improved so much, but today just wasn’t our day,” Stars coach Bryanne Ganiere said. “We made a number of really great plays defensively, but also had a couple that we didn’t. That happens sometimes. The biggest thing for me was that the girls played as hard as they could from start to finish and had fun despite coming up a little short on the scoreboard.

“We knew this game would be a tough battle with us splitting the two previous games we played, and it was. Credit (the Wolf Pack), because they made solid contact for much of the game, played very good defense, and their pitcher was really on today.”

The Wolf Pack added three more runs in the fifth, as Lilly Nesti and Finnley Wren smacked RBI singles, while Hazel Ortiz coaxed a bases-loaded walk.

The Stars scored a single run in the fifth on an RBI single by Addie Blacklaw.

In the circle, the Wolf Pack used a combined efforts from winner Jaegle (4 IP, 7 K) and Calhan (1 IP, 1 K), while the trio of Emily Drake (3 1/3 IP, 7 K), Brinlee Winter and Blacklaw pitched for the Stars.

Jaegle led the Wolf Pack with three hits and four RBIs, while Boaz and Nesti each had two hits.

“I started pitching when I was 8. One of my coach’s daughters pitched, and after seeing her do it, I just thought it would be fun,” said Jaegle, who says her favorite athletes are University of Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark and recent Marquette Academy graduate and three-sport athlete Tommy Durdan. “I work on my pitching a lot, and the more I do it, the more fun I’m having, but I also really like hitting too. I love that when I get a hit it helps give my teammates added energy.

“The season was really fun, and today just made it even better.”