Wawasee’s Danielle Gunkel locates a pitch Monday against Lakeland. Wawasee opened its season with an 8-1 win over the Lakers. (Photos by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – The spring season has finally arrived for Wawasee, and Monday ushered in softball’s quest to continue its roll from last season. Using strong pitching from Amber Lemberg and aggressive base running, the Lady Warriors smashed the visiting Lakers, 8-1, in Wawasee’s season opener.

Wawasee pitcher Amber Lemberg fires to Lakeland.

Monday’s rematch of the sectional championship from last season lacked all the drama save for the first couple innings, thanks in part to Lemberg. The sophomore mowed down seven innings of nine-strikeout ball, scattering eight hits. Lemberg only walked one and worked out of two jams in the first and second innings as she settled in.

Lemberg opened the day with two straight looking Ks, but was then greeted with three straight singles by Mattea Holton, Kristen Wiese and Christin Hoover, the third combined with a bobble in center field accounted for the only Lakeland run. The Laker lead was short-lived, however, as Wawasee answered immediately in the bottom of the first when Meghan Fretz ripped a two-run triple.

Lakeland would put runners on first and third in the second inning, but could not plate the run while Wawasee scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half.

An Ale Brito RBI single in the third put Wawasee up 6-1, more than enough to take command. Brito added four stolen bases and a run scored while Madi Wilson scored two runs and Allissa Flores added an RBI single to help Wawasee’s cause.

Allissa Flores of Wawasee follows a single in the third inning.

“Lemberg had the flu last week and hadn’t thrown any pitches for three or four days, so we didn’t fully know what to expect,” said Wawasee head coach Jared Knipper. “She missed a couple days of practice, and it definitely showed in the first couple of innings. But she settled in after that and looked like her old self.”

Holton wasn’t bad for Lakeland in the circle, giving up just four hits and striking out four, but was wild around the zone at times, walking six and allowing three runs to score on wild pitches.

Lakeland (0-2) opened its season last week on a sour note, a 30-4 loser to Mishawaka.

“Our goal was to play clean and score some runs, and I think we did both of those things,” Knipper said. “We’ve been in the gym for a week and doing what we can, but we were happy to just get outside and play. Keep getting better, every day, and stay aggressive.”

Wawasee (1-0) will stay at home and welcome in West Noble Tuesday.

Wawasee’s JV picked up where it left of last season, winning 16-6 against Lakeland. Kayleigh Rhodes had three RBIs and Liz Webber added a triple for Wawasee, which went 25-0 last season.