By RICH TORRES
WESTFIELD – Finishing third in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference last year, the Hamilton Southeastern Royals have the top-spot in their crosshairs this spring.
And so far, they’re right on target.
Led by sophomore Kaelin Wincek, who went 4-for-4 at the plate, the Royals compiled 15 hits and clubbed a pair of home runs to defeat host Westfield 14-1 by run-rule in five innings on Tuesday night.
“We want it a lot. We were talking about it today,” Wincek remarked on the 2018 HCC race. “We’re trying to go all out after it and be conference champs. We’re starting strong.”
The Class 4A Royals’ second run-rule victory of the year marked their third double-digit outburst on the season and improved their record to 2-0 in the HCC standings, which ties them for second place with Brownsburg.
HSE (5-3) opened its conference schedule at home this past Friday with a 10-0 win in six innings against rival Fishers.
On the road in Westfield (1-6, 0-2 HCC), the Royals’ bats stayed white hot despite the chilly 30-degree temperatures. HSE sent nine batters to the box in the top of the third, plating four runs behind five hits before erupting for eight runs in the fourth to go up 12-0.
“We had 15 hits as a team. When you get to double digits there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to win a high school softball game,” HSE head coach Dave Cook said. “We put together a couple of hits (in the third). We had a double steal, a base hit and two RBIs. We had some kids producing in there.”
The Royals’ one through six hitters combined to go 12-for-23 with four extra-base hits. As a team, HSE entered the game hitting .388 on the season and exceeded its average by finishing 15 of 32.
“They hit. We do like our offense,” Cook said. “And hopefully, it gets even better when it does get warm.”
Wincek scorched the ball around the diamond with three singles and a two-run homer in the fourth. Three at-bats later Jordan Rager blasted a three-run bomb over the left-field fence to put HSE ahead 8-0.
Rager, the Royals’ third-hole hitter, went 1-for-4, while Lillian Leiner was 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored in the second spot. Rager’s home run was her second this season and marked her 11th RBI.
Leiner, a sophomore, continues to pace the offense with 14 RBI. Wincek has driven in 11 runs and now has three home runs in 29 plate appearances. All three are hitting .353 or better with Wincek sitting at .429.
“You build a little three-, four-run lead and then next thing you get a three-run homer and a two-run homer. It sure helps,” Cook said. “It makes you relax a little bit.”
The hitting was contagious throughout the lineup. Senior Nicole Dillow, the team’s nine-hole hitter, went 2-for-4 and sparked the Royals’ third-inning charge with a leadoff single. Dillow currently leads HSE with a .556 batting average.
Libby Ratliff lined a double and went 2-for-4, hitting cleanup for the Royals, while five-hole hitter Nicole Lang followed suit at 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Leiner knocked in the first run of the game in the top of the third with a dribbler toward the circle after Abby Taylor and Dillow executed a no-out double steal to move into scoring position.
A dropped ball at home plate in an attempt to tag out a sprinting Dillow from third base, scored both lead runners. Ratliff brought home Leiner with a one-out single to give HSE a 3-0 advantage.
“We take a lot of (pride in hitting). We work a lot at it, so it’s nice to have our hard work pay off,” Wincek said.
The Royals logged 13 at-bats in the top of the fourth, using seven hits and a Westfield error to extend the margin.
Jaylah Guilliam earned the win, pitching 5 innings while scattering three hits and striking out six. The right-hander struck out the first four batters she faced and retired seven straight to start.
Her only setback came in the bottom of the fourth when Westfield senior Ashley Swartout muscled an opposite-field home run over the right-field wall.
“She struggled a little bit there in the bottom of the fourth, but she just got cold,” Cook said. “She said her hands were cold. She couldn’t feel the seams. She couldn’t feel the ball. We put eight on the board in the fourth, so she was waiting for a long time.”
Swartout, who is hitting .714 on the year, has belted a home run in three straight games. Her career average is .412 with 89 RBI and 17 home runs.
“That was her 100th career hit as a Shamrock. It was a home run, which is fitting because I think she might be our all-time leader in home runs,” Westfield head coach Brian Revercomb said. “She’s just a kid with a great attitude, a great work ethic; I can’t say enough about her.”
The Royals added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth with an RBI-single by Wincek, who later scored on a wild pitch.
Westfield junior right-hander Alexis McClure collected the final two outs in relief with back-to-back strikeouts to finally quiet the Royals in the fifth.
“At 1 o’clock, it was overcast and 30-some degrees, and I didn’t think we were playing today,” Cook said. “It feels like the temperature is in the mid-20s. It was a good conference win on a cold night.”
Up next, the Royals travel to Lawrence North on Thursday for a non-conference game before the Whiteland Tournament on Saturday, while the Shamrocks host 3A No. 5 Lebanon on Friday.
Southeastern 14, Westfield 1
(5 innings)
Southeastern AB R H RBI
Abby Taylor 3 2 1 0
Lillian Leiner 4 2 2 3
Jordan Rager 4 1 1 3
Libby Ratliff 4 2 2 1
Nicole Lang 4 2 2 1
Kaelin Wincek 4 2 4 4
Abby Willmann 2 0 1 0
Holly Hosfield 0 0 0 0
Ahliza Moore 3 1 0 0
Courtney Kocal 0 0 0 0
Nicole Dillow 4 2 2 0
Totals 32 14 15 12
HR: Rager, Wincek. 3B: Lang. 2B: Ratliff. SB: Dillow 2, Taylor.
Southeastern pitching IP R ER H
Jaylah Guilliam 5.0 1 1 3
Strikeouts: Guilliam 6. Walks: Guilliam 1.
Westfield AB R H RBI
Reghan Oland 3 0 1 0
Regan Nickel 3 0 1 0
Ashley Swartout 3 1 1 1
Corrine Molter 2 0 0 0
Emily Revercomb 1 0 0 0
Alexis McClure 1 0 0 0
Sara Harmeyer 1 0 0 0
Caroline Maymon 2 0 0 0
Savannah Arvin 1 0 0 0
Madeline Hunter 0 0 0 0
Georgia Haffley 2 0 0 0
Totals 19 1 3 1
HR: Swartout. SB: Hunter. HBP: Arvin.
Westfield pitching IP R ER H
Rebekah Davidson 4.1 7 7 10
Avery Wagner 0.0 7 6 5
McClure 0.2 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Davidson 4, McClure 2. Walks: Davidson 3, Wagner 1.
Score by innings
Southeastern 004 82 – 14 15 1
Westfield 000 10 – 1 3 2