FORT WAYNE – As many phases as one can incorporate into a softball team’s play, Wawasee had them all working Tuesday night. Hitting, defense, pitching, baserunning, even attitude, it was all on display as Wawasee overwhelmed host Fort Wayne Concordia, 5-0, to win its first-ever softball regional.

Meghan Fretz had a lot to do with Wawasee’s run to semi-state. Fretz had a perfect game working into the sixth inning, getting two outs before Jenna Lawrence flared a single into no man’s land in short right field. That was all Fretz allowed all night, even shaking off a quick trip to the circle by head coach Mike Barger in the seventh to settle his ace hurler down as reality of a title set in. Fretz retired the side in the seventh, racking up seven strikeouts and allowing just two balls to leave the infield.

“When Meghan keeps doing what she’s doing, it’s hard to get rolling on offense when she is dealing,” Barger said. “That was probably her best game all year long. But the defense just makes plays. They just get relaxed and made plays.

“That little trip to the mound she was a nervous wreck. I told her ‘Meghan you gotta settle. Just settle. You gotta deal.’ I went out, calmed her down, and away she went.”

Meghan Fretz was almost unhittable Tuesday, allowing one hit in the 5-0 shutout win. (Photos by Mike Deak)

While Fretz was keeping the ball in the infield, her defense did make some plays to ensure the shutout. Kayla White made two running snares at second, including the final out, and Hannah Haines made a diving catch in foul territory to end the fifth.

“At first, I thought that last ball was way over my head, then I was like ‘holy crap I gotta catch that’,” White said of the final out. “Defense as been our strongsuit all year. Not having an error today is something we’ll be proud of. To get it done, we had to get the defense going and we did that. Meghan made it really easy pitching like she did. But us playing defense like we did made our job much easier at the plate.”

Wawasee’s offense, somewhat maligned in the sectional for taking four innings to get going, didn’t hesitate Tuesday. Fretz drove in the first run in the first on a sacrifice fly after Ale Brito and Kayla White led off the game with walks. Madie Wilson moved the runners over, giving Wawasee now four straight tournament games striking first blood in the first inning.

Brito and White led off the third with singles, and Fretz hit another sacrifice fly to bring in Brito. The throw home went well wide of its intended target, which allowed White to trot home. Wawasee scored another unearned run in the fourth on an RBI sacrifice by Faith Swihart, and Wilson added insurance with an RBI single in the seventh.

Brito was 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored. White was 2-3 with a double and a run scored.

“This was the goal for us since freshman year when we lost by a run,” Brito said, referring to a 3-2 loss to Leo, to which the Lions went on to win the Class 3-A title that year. “We weren’t going to let this one get away in our last shot at it. No more what if’s anymore. It starts with me at leadoff, and getting on quick in the first, and Kayla right behind me, that puts a lot of pressure on (Concordia) to have to respond. Getting that first run really helped.”

Wawasee touched up Concordia starting pitcher Mariah Perez for eight hits, though only Wilson’s RBI in the seventh came off a base hit.

The Lady Warriors move to 25-3 overall and celebrate its first title in six tries at the regional level. Wawasee will play South Bend St. Joseph’s, which downed Northwestern, 2-1 in rural Kokomo Tuesday night, in the two-game Twin Lakes Semi-state on Saturday in the second game at 1 p.m. The winner will play in the semi-state final at 7 p.m.