Norwalk pulls away from NL late

NORWALK — That one felt good. The huge inning had been tough to come by this season for the Norwalk softball team. With a slim 3-2 lead after visiting New London had scored twice in the top of the sixth, the Truckers responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning. That gave Norwalk (6-9) the necessary breathing room to finish off the 8-2 victory on Monday at NHS. Prior to Monday, the Truckers had scored five or more runs in an inning in two of their previous 14 games. "That was a great sequence," Norwalk softball coach Julie Schmidt said. "We had a lot of activity on the bases. We did what we needed to do to keep the runners moving." Scarlet Schneider started the sixth with a single to center. She was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Audryn Ott. Schneider then advanced to third on a wild pitch, and Alexis Dellisanti brought her home with a sacrifice fly to right for a 4-2 lead. But then the Truckers broke it open. Skylar Helton was hit by a pitch, and Avianna Brandt put down a bunt to first base that was misplayed. That allowed Helton to score and Brandt to advance to second base. Lola Schlotterer drew a four-pitch walk, which also saw Brandt reach third base on a wild pitch. Maddie Gamble then hit a hard ground ball toward short that wasn't fielded cleanly, which allowed Brandt to score and make it 6-2. "Avianna is a first-year player for us, and she did a great job getting that push bunt down the first base line to get the runners moving," Schmidt said. "We had a lot of chaos on the base paths to give ourselves an opportunity at the late insurance runs." Norwalk then broke it open for good when Saige Viock doubled to center to score Schlotterer, and Reagan Mooney followed with an RBI single to plate Gamble for the 8-2 lead. New London (7-10) scored its two runs in the top of the sixth with two outs. Natalie Weaver was on second with two outs after she reached on a walk, then Sydnee Huntington singled to put runners on the corners. Peyton Pickering walked to load the bases, and starting pitcher Addison Yetter singled to first to score Weaver. With the bases loaded, Hailie Pylant drew an eight-pitch walk to force in a run before Viock included an infield pop fly to end the inning. In the top of the first, Yetter walked and Pylant singled for the first two batters of the game. But then Sophia Ames was able to snag a hard liner by New London's Gracie Thomas, and Viock struck out a pair of batters with the bases loaded to end the threat. Viock allowed the two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and eight walks over seven innings for the Truckers. "I give a lot of credit to Viock for pitching a very good game," NL head coach Joe Thomas said. "She had quite a few strikeouts and kept Gracie without a hit, which doesn't happen too often. They made a big play in the first with a hard line drive up the middle. That could have been a big start for us. "I think Addy would tell you she's not a strikeout pitcher, and she threw very well today and had some strikeouts," Thomas added. "But we have to make plays behind her, and we had a few plays we should have made to limit those five runs in the sixth, and then we have maybe a better shot." Viock added a pair of doubles and drove in three at the plate for Norwalk. Gamble singled in the third, and Viock hit her first double for a 1-0 lead before the big one in the bottom of the sixth. "Saige was awesome today," Schmidt said. "It was wonderful to see her do her thing both ways. She kept attacking, and she didn't get down if she walked a batter. She was able to keep us in it the whole way through. "I'm so proud of her resilience and to see her defense back her up. She was helping herself out on offense and was a great asset today." New London is scheduled to host South Central on Tuesday and visit the Trojans on Wednesday in Firelands Conference play. "We have a lot of winnable games still," Thomas said. "It's a tough schedule, but I think we can compete." Meanwhile, Norwalk is scheduled to host Tiffin Columbian on Tuesday in a rescheduled game, then visit Clyde on Wednesday. The Truckers are also slated to resume a game against Bellevue on Thursday that has them trailing 3-2 in the top of the fifth. The week, if weather allows, finishes with a return trip to Tiffin to take on the Tornadoes. "We're hoping to use the first half as an opportunity to springboard into the second half," Schmidt said. "We want to learn from our mistakes and build momentum going into the tournament and the second half of SBC play to stay in it. "We want to use those early-season mistakes and get some wins to build momentum. But the girls are buying in and doing what they need to do. The energy is great, and they are building up the pace we need them to." N. London 000 002 0 — 2 5 3 Norwalk 001 025 x — 8 10 0 WP: Viock; LP: A. Yetter 2B: (N) Viock 2