STAC SOFTBALL: WAVERLY OPENS NEW FIELD WITH FIRST STAC VICTORY — 13-1 WIN OVER NORWICH (16 PHOTOS) (2024-03-28)

Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Waverly celebrated its new turf field, and its entrance into the Southern Tier Athletic Conference with a convincing, 13-1, five-inning season-opening win over Norwich here Thursday afternoon in non-divisional softball action.

“Our kids were really pumped to open the season on our new field with a victory,” said first-year Waverly coach Brent Doane. “I am really proud of how we played. Our players are learning every day and working very hard at the game.”

Junior Loralye Anthony turned in a strong performance in the pitching circle in her varsity pitching debut. She allowed an unearned run on one hit, while striking out seven and walking four in five innings to earn the win.

“Loralye really set the tone for us tonight in the circle,” said Doane. “She pitched a gem of a game.

“She worked hard to get ahead in counts and it really paid off,” noted Doane. “She was brilliant today and I think it is pretty special to be the first to get a win our new diamond with that kind of performance.”

The Wolverines staked Anthony to a 7-0 lead with seven runs in the home half of the first inning.

After junior Brinn Cooney scored on a dropped third strike to make it 1-0,  sophomore Maddie Cron scored on a passed ball to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Wolverines scored four more runs on just one hit — a single by sophomore Delaney Wheeler, before freshman Lecksie Douglas capped the rally with an inside-the-park home run to make it 7-0.

Cron, freshman Hannah Carpenter, and Wheeler delivered consecutive singles to start the second inning, and extend the lead to 8-0.

Cron knocked in a run with a fielder’s choice groundout in the third inning to push the lead to 9-0, and junior Meghan Apgar lined an RBI single into center field to make it 10-0 after four innings.

Norwich got on the board with an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning, but Waverly answered with three runs — the final run on an RBI single by Douglas — in the home half of the frame to invoke the 12-run rule.

Douglas was 3-for-4 with a home run, one run scored, and two RBI to lead Waverly’s 13-hit attack, while Wheeler had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBI, Cron had two hits, three runs scored, and one RBI, and senior Faith Blauvelt singled twice, scored one run, and drove in one run.

Anthony singled twice and scored two runs in the win, while Apgar singled, scored one run, and knocked in two runs, Carpenter singled and scored two runs, and Cooney crossed the plate once.

“We had some timely hitting, including a home run by our freshman, Lecksie Douglas,” said Doane. “And, we got some very heads up base-running by Maddie Cron.”

Waverly returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Addison.

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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly’s Loralye Anthony. … PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.