Vierstra's no-hitter keeps Lakewood softball rolling

• Courtney Vierstra threw a no-hitter%2C striking out eight and not allowing a ball to the outfield.
• Bailey Brownfield had three hits and two RBIs.

PATASKALA – Pick a favorite Lakewood stat.

Maybe it's the Lancers' .429 team batting average. Maybe it's sophomore right-hander Courtney Vierstra allowing just five earned runs in 72 innings.

The Lancers are showing no deficiencies and continue to play like the No. 1 team they are, beating host Licking Heights 11-0 in Licking County League play Friday.

Lakewood (16-0, 11-0), which was ranked No. 1 in the first state coaches poll earlier this week, sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored six runs. That was plenty for Vierstra, who threw a six-inning no-hitter.

"We have to believe in each other to know that the next person up will get a hit," senior third baseman Bailey Brownfield said. "Or in a situation with runners on, we have to know that they will be able to add to that."

The Lancers had 17 hits, doing nothing to hurt that gaudy average. Vierstra had the only extra-base hit, a bloop double that scored two in the second.

Brownfield, who is hitting well over .500, had three hits and two RBIs, and Alexa Perry and Kristen Peacock combined for five hits and four RBIs out of the Nos. 6 and 7 spots.

"We focus on hitting line drives mainly," said Megan Davis who was one of eight starters to have at least one hit. She added two stolen bases. "Most teams focus on hitting home runs or doing that kind of thing, but we take it one hit at a time."

Vierstra had eight strikeouts and did not come close to walking anyone. Heights' only baserunner came on an error, and Vierstra immediately erased that when she started a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Heights (5-10, 3-8) has been a good hitting team, but Vierstra did not allow a ball to be hit to the outfield nor did she allow a hitter to pull the ball past the pitcher's rubber.

"We are very grateful at the way she has been pitching," Brownfield said. "Just keeping the ball on the ground and giving the team ground balls."

After a run of five consecutive district titles, which included three state titles, was snapped, Lakewood has been eliminated in the district semifinals the past three seasons.

Coach Criss Nadolson, however, insists Lakewood has not even begun to think about next week when Licking Valley and Granville visit on back-to-back days.

"The bottom of the order is as good as the top," said Nadolson, whose team holds a two-game edge in the LCL. "It's hard to know exactly who to bat where. We had been batting Alexa Perry second, but (Friday), we put (Kate Peacock) up there. Alexa had two or three hits down there in the six hole. We have had some kids hitting the ball, and that will cover up some things."

Still, it is hard to not let the mind wander. The Lancers could be back in familiar territory in late May.

"It does come up often, but we try to look past that," Brownfield said. "We are expecting big things this year."

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

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