New Richmond – This season has been Andrea Laxton’s first at the high school level after the pandemic wiped out her freshman year.
You wouldn’t have been able to tell Monday night.
In a doubleheader, the Wyoming East sophomore collected five total hits and six RBIs as the Lady Warriors beat James Monroe 5-3 in the first game and 9-4 in the second in New Richmond.
Laxton got things rolling early for East.
After pitcher Olivia Hylton led off the bottom of the first with a double, Laxton drove her in with a single that bounced off the fence in right field.
Leading 1-0 in the third, the first baseman was there again to capitalize. A leadoff double from junior Paige Laxton set the plate for Andrea Laxton, who scored the former’s courtesy runner with a single. The latter scored two batters later when Cadence Clay notched a single to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage.
“I’ve really been going in with a bunch of confidence lately,” Andrea Laxton said. “I’ve been struggling, so I just had to keep my confidence up. I was just trying to make contact and help the team.
Laxton capped off her stellar game with her third hit of the night in the fifth.
“When she’s aggressive she’s good,” Wyoming East head coach Doc Warner said. “When she’s looking she’s bad. I always tell her, I don’t care what you do, just be aggressive. And she played good today because she was aggressive.”
Back-to-back singles from both Laxtons to open the frame set the table for freshman Maddy Clark who knocked the third consecutive single of the inning to make it 4-0. An error on a pop up at second allowed the fifth and final East run to cross the plate, but the Mavericks weren’t ready to lie down.
Back-to-back East errors in the sixth led to two runs, jump starting a rally attempt.
That momentum carried to the seventh as a single and an error put runners on for Shannon Phipps with two outs. Representing the tying run, Phipps responded by hitting a single to score one, but was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit out, ending the game.
In the second contest of the evening the Mavs made it a game early before fading late.
East’s Lilly Hill opened the scoring with a one-out single in the second that drove in Clay. Hill advanced into scoring position when the outfielder fumbled the ball and later scored on a wild pitch, giving East a 2-0 advantage. James Monore answered in the fourth when Kelli Belcher led off with a single, scoring when Emily Bailey notched a one-out single. Bailey came home when Sarah Collins, batting ninth, crushed a two-out double, knotting the game.
It stayed that way until the fifth when Clark and Paige Laxton drew one-out walks, scoring when Andrea Laxton delivered two of her four RBIs in the contest. Not satisfied, Olivia Hylton, who moved from pitcher to second base in the night cap, homered over the fence in right field, making it 6-2. East tacked on its final three runs in the sixth with Clark and Laxton combing for three RBIs.
“We’re getting better,” East head coach Doc Warner said. “We didn’t hit as well at the bottom of the order, but we’re getting better. I expect those kids at the top to hit every time. I do. Paige, Olivia, Andrea, Maddy and (Kayley) Bane, I expect them to hit every time.
Much like the first game, the Mavs had one final gasp.
They scored two runs and had the tying run in the on deck circle but a strikeout with the bases loaded ended the game.
“We’ve been struggling with the timely hit all year,” James Monroe head coach Greg Wickline said. “But they’re coming around and swinging the bat. They’ve cleaned up these routine plays quite a bit, so we’re hoping to see that and get them relaxed moving forward.”
Wyoming East improves to 11-9 and will travel to Midland Trail on Tuesday. James Monroe will travel to Shady Spring on Tuesday.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjackRH
Game 1
JM: 000 002 1 – 3 5 2
WE: 102 020 x – 5 9 3
Pitching – WP: Olivia Hylton, LP: Shannon Phipps. Hitting – JM: Phipps 1-4, Emilee Canterbury 2-3, Lexi Boggs 1-3; WE: Olivia Hylton 1-4 (2B), Paige Laxton 2-4 (2B), Andrea Laxton 3-3 (2 RBI), Maddy Clark 2-3 (RBI), Cadence Clay 1-3 (RBI).
Game 2
JM: 000 200 2 – 4 7 1
WE: 020 043 x – 9 8 0
Pitching – WP: Savannah Brehm, LP: Abi Parker. Hitting – JM: Phipps 2-4 (RBI), Haley Hunnicutt 1-4, Emilee Canterbury 1-4, Kelli Belcher 1-3, Emily Bailey 1-1 (RBI), Sarah Collins 1-2 (2B, RBI); WE: Maddy Clark 2-3 (2B, RBI), Paige Laxton 1-2 (2B), Andrea Laxton 2-4 (2B, 4 RBI), Olivia Hylton 1-3 (HR, RBI), Lilly Hill 2-3 (2B, RBI)