Softball: Sienna Stingley’s 2-hitter, 3 RBIs lead Sterling past Dixon

DIXON – It was a solid defensive effort by the Sterling Golden Warriors against the Dixon Duchesses on Tuesday. It was a good offensive effort, as well.

Senior pitcher Sienna Stingley struck out 16 with no walks in a complete-game, six-inning two-hitter and went 4 for 4 with three RBIs as Sterling won 11-0 against the Duchesses at Reynolds Field.

[ Photos: Sterling at Dixon softball ]

The Golden Warriors (5-0) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never let up.

“We had confidence coming into this game just because we were 4-0 coming into this, and we’re just a really good team right now,” Stingley said. “We’re really rolling and we’re on a streak, so I had a lot of confidence. The three runs really set it off.”

Stingley ignited Sterling’s offense in the first inning, driving in senior first baseman Ady Waldschmidt and junior catcher Marley Sechrest for the first two runs of the game on a one-out double to left-center field.

Sophomore infielder Mya Lira then grounded a ball to third base and reached first on an errant throw, and freshman outfielder Layla Wright singled to shallow center field to score the third run in Kennedy Tate, the courtesy runner for Stingley, for the 3-0 lead.

Stingley worked 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, fourth and sixth, striking out the side in all but the second.

“All of my pitches were working,” Stingley said. “It felt really nice, especially because I have a really good connection with my coach and my catcher, so it just feels very smooth this year.”

“Sienna’s a very powerful pitcher, and she helps us tremendously pitching and when she hits the ball,” Waldschmidt said. “She’s usually always on, and she’s a big aspect of the team.”

Sterling scored one run in the second and sixth innings, two runs in the fourth and sixth and three in the fifth en route to the 10-run rule win.

Stingley singled to right field to score senior outfielder Olivia Melcher for a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

In the top of the fourth, Waldschmidt singled to score Melcher again, then Stingley doubled to plate Waldschmidt for a six-run lead.

“Obviously, we’ve gotta clean up the errors. We’ve gotta clean up our defense. Just the small mistakes,” Dixon coach Candi Rogers said about the seven-error performance. “We gave them extra bases, couldn’t get out of two-out innings. That’s really why we lost. And [Sienna Stingley] did well. We had a hard time keeping up with her and adjusting, so we just have to be able to make those adjustments.”

Sterling stretched its lead to 9-0 with three more runs in the top of the fifth, as Melcher doubled to score junior infielder Katie Taylor, Waldschmidt singled to score Melcher and Stingley singled to score Waldschmidt once more.

Waldschmidt ripped a two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth inning, then Stingley struck out the side in the bottom of the frame to cap the six-inning win.

Taylor and Waldschmidt each went 3 for 4, while Lira finished 2 for 4 at the plate. Waldschimdt had three RBIs.

Senior catcher Ava Valk and third baseman Elly Brown had one hit each for Dixon.

Stingley and Waldschmidt see a lot of potential in Sterling going forward.

“We’ve clicked so early on, and that’s really exciting for me,” Stingley said. “Last year we were so connected, but we were connected later in the season. But we’ve done it so early this year. It’s just really nice.”

“I think we have a lot of potential going forward,” Waldschmidt added. “We have big goals this season and getting far in the season, and every game we get better and you can see it.”