The Westville Blackhawks brought the heat in today’s double match-up games, first chalking up a 9-7 win over the Morgan Township Cherokees, then stretching that winning streak in a 5-4 victory over the Kouts Mustangs in Class 1A Softball.
The Blackhawks got off to a slow start, falling behind the Mustangs 0-3 in the third inning, but staged a strong comeback, clawing their way back from the deficit, going 2-3 by the fourth inning and cruising to a nail-biting 5-4 win in the final stages of the game.
“We’re not really a first-inning kind of team,” said 00 Kayley Bowley, Jr. catcher for the Blackhawks. “ It takes us a few innings to warm up and find our rhythm. It took us a few innings to really get going and it's the same thing we did here. It took us a while to build momentum and show everybody what we brought here today.”
Kayley’s twin sister, McKenna Bowley, plays center for the team and was excited about the win.
“This feels amazing! Our gloves were hot, our bats were hot, and it’s amazing that we were able to take home a win here today,” McKenna said.
They look forward to facing off against South Central tomorrow.
“We should bring on a little more heat, we’re looking to really turn it up.”
Westville coach Mark Dineen was very proud of how his team did against Kouts.
“We were down 4-0 in our first game here today, then we got some hits and pulled things together to take the win, and we reminded Kouts of what we did in the first game here today. We came back. We had that freak home run that changed the whole parameter of the game,” Dineen said.
This freak home run resulted from the strong hit by Kouts 3rd baseman #9 Emma Roney, that tipped off the glove of Westville #9 Olivia Niec and bounced over the fence, allowing the Mustangs to come within a single run of their hosts.
“But we prevailed,” Dineen said. “We didn’t lose any drive and defense is what it’s all about. No one will ever remember that you won PCC, but they’ll never forget that you won sectionals.”
This is the third time that Dineen has led his team to sectionals - first in 2010, again in 2013, and now in 2021.
“My oldest daughter played in our first sectional win, and my youngest is here today for our latest sectional win. We are the only sport here in Westville that has a sectional title, and I’m really proud of that.”
Coach Dineen had an unusual method to prepare his team for their back-to-back wins today.
“We brought them all out here early this morning. My wife fixed everybody a good breakfast of biscuits and gravy. They all had a good meal and then came out here to start practicing. We wanted to keep them together, keep them focused.”
The Westville Blackhawks will host the South Central Satellites tomorrow at 5 p.m. for a neutral playoff game.