Wawasee’s Alli Ousley (9) is welcomed home by her teammates after belting a grand slam against NorthWood Friday night. The Warriors won 8-2. (Photos by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – Wawasee went on a pure power trip Friday night.

Using the long ball and a whole lot of power pitching, Wawasee overwhelmed NorthWood, 8-2, Friday night in the Northern Lakes Conference capper for both programs.

The Wawasee bats were hot, specifically that of Alli Ousley and Madi Anderson. A 199-foot, bases-loaded single from Anderson in the first inning put Wawasee ahead 2-0. The play only resulted in a single as the runners held up as NorthWood chased the fly ball, a ball that wound up falling just before the fence.

Ousley would then double in the second to drive home a run, making the score 3-1.

Wawasee’s Taylor Spangle motors around second base en route of a triple.

Anderson would find her power stroke again in the fifth, taking a Taylor Troxel pitch another 210 feet for a solo shot to push the score to 4-1. Ousley would end any doubt in the contest in the sixth.

After Wawasee loaded the bases, NorthWood’s Allie Mattingly made a nice play from shortstop on an Aly Anderson liner to gun down a runner at home, keeping the lead at three. Ousley then stepped to the plate and found herself late on two swings. Her third swing, however, was right on target as Troxel left a fastball over the middle of the plate. The ping of the bat left no doubt as Ousley’s bomb was crushed to dead center for a grand slam, giving Wawasee an 8-1 lead.

“This was a great game at the plate for Alli, she made a great adjustment in her last at bat and crushed it,” said Wawasee head coach Hans Griepentrog. Ousley would finish the game the double, grand slam and five RBIs. Madi Anderson had the two hits and three RBIs. “We tell them all the time, there is a reason why we get three strikes. Take advantage of that, and in that specific at bat, Ousley did that.”

Senior Taylor Spangle also showed well on ‘Senior Day’, ripping a triple among her two hits, Victoria Warren reached on a hit-by-pitch and classmate Kylie Norris was dealing darts in the pitching circle.

Kylie Norris was sharp for Wawasee, striking out 10 Panthers.

Norris had to work to put away the pesky NorthWood side, allowing a base runner in every inning. But the hard-throwing righty limited the damage to just an RBI double by Troxel in the second inning and an unearned run in the seventh with the game out of reach. Norris scattered just six hits, walked three and struck out 10, striking out the side in the third after Jodie Ramer led off the inning with an RBI double but was stranded on the bag.

“The last few outings Kylie has had, she has given up a lot of baserunners, but she has been getting out of it,” Griepentrog said. “It’s a testament to our defense and to her mental toughness. You can tell she has really grown up a lot in these four years. It’s great to see seniors go out with a win on their own turf.”

NorthWood were led by the bat of Allie Mattingly at the top of the order, reaching base three times, one on a ringing double in the seventh that eventually drove home the second run.

Aside from the two home runs, Troxel did not throw poorly. The freshman for NorthWood did allow nine hits and walked a batter, but threw 71 of her 107 pitches for strikes.

“Taylor is a freshmen and I kind of expect (Wawasee) to take advantage of some of her mistakes, and the two home runs, they did,” said NorthWood head coach Ryan Mattern. “But we did have runners on base every inning, we just couldn’t find a way to get some more runners across.”

Wawasee finishes the NLC season 6-8 overall while NorthWood drops to 4-10 in the conference grid. In the JV contest, Wawasee moved to 12-3 on the season with a 6-3 win over a NorthWood team that upset Wawasee in the championship game of the Warsaw Invite last weekend. Wawasee will play its final JV games Saturday when it hosts the Wawasee JV Invite.

As the page now turns from getting in games – as Friday’s contest was a make-up contest from an April rain-out – the two teams will now focus on its respective matchups in the Lakeland Softball Sectional.

Wawasee (10-12 overall) will take the diamond first facing a Fairfield team (16-8) that beat Wawasee 5-0 in early April. Fairfield managed to beat Wawasee on just two hits, but used walks, errors and a lot of small ball to expose Wawasee’s weaknesses that night in Benton. Griepentrog feels a repeat performance will not happen Monday.

“The errors we had in the first game, it made it look a little more one-sided than it really was,” Griepentrog said of the first matchup with Fairfield on April 8. “I have a feeling it will be a good pitchers duel. We have been playing good defense lately, and I’m sure they will come out ready to play like we will be ready to play. It will be a good brawl for the first round of the sectionals.”

Mattern likes his chances against a Tippecanoe Valley team (5-16) the Panthers beat 16-3 April 30. Valley limp into the sectional after dealing with a tough schedule, but Mattern is quick not to declare his NorthWood team (10-12) a decided favorite.

“Who knows, its been a long time ago and I’m sure they have improved just as we have improved,” Mattern said. “This is my seventh year coaching girls in high school, and you never know what team is going to show up and which will have an off night. In sectionals, you are playing for your tournament lives, so I expect a tough game.”

Wawasee and Fairfield begin the sectional at 5 p.m. at Lakeland, with NorthWood and Tippecanoe Valley to follow. Monday’s winners play in game one Tuesday, a 5 p.m. start with Lakeland and West Noble to follow in the second semi-final. Tuesday’s survivors will play at 5 p.m. Thursday for the right to hoist the Class 3-A Sectional 21 trophy. Lakeland are the defending champions.