ShawneeDispatch.com

Pitch-hit. Hit-pitch. It doesn't matter what order they come in. The skills displayed by the Shawnee Mission Northwest softball team are adding up to victory after victory, and if one aspect falters, the other one carries the Cougars to victory.

Both attacks were in full force this past week as the Cougars claimed victory six times to run their amazing win streak to 16 games and their season record to 16-0.

The Cougars completed a three-day, six-game sweep by downing Shawnee Mission West 3-1 and 9-2 on Tuesday; Shawnee Mission South 10-0 and 5-2 on Wednesday; and Shawnee Mission East 2-1 and 8-0 on Thursday.

The week began with the emergence of sophomore Katie Smith as a Cougar run-producer.

Smith began her assault Tuesday with an opposite field double to right in the top of the third inning of Game 1. Two outs later, Smith was at third when a snap throw by the West catcher sailed over the third baseman's head, and Smith ran home with the Cougars' first run of the day.

In the top of the sixth inning Smith struck again, this time connecting on a two-out gapper to right center that brought home Tiffany Carter and Amanda Jobe with the game's eventual winning runs. For the game, Smith finished 2-for-2 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. Smith's performance earned her a game ball from her teammates.

As it turned out, Smith's performance was a combination of emerging confidence as a hitter and cunning placement by a coach.

"Katie's a high-ball hitter, and their pitcher is a high-ball pitcher," Northwest coach Mark Balderston said after the first game. "I had a good feeling she'd (Smith) would be able to make some contact today."

Smith, for her part, was nonchalant about her performance.

"I really didn't think too much about her being a high-ball pitcher," Smith said. "I just knew I wanted to hit the ball. I haven't hit in a while. The key with a rise-ball pitcher is to hit the ball before it breaks."

The second game saw more offense from the Cougars, who got off to an early lead and never let the Vikings start any serious threats.

In the second inning, sophomore pitcher Kim Jones helped her own cause by driving in Smith with the first run of the game on a one-out double to the wall in left center. Three batters later, senior shortstop Katie Mathis brought Jones home on a popped single to short, and the Cougars were up 2-0.

The Cougars increased that lead by two in the third inning. Carter began the attack with a massive home run that cleared a tree behind the left field wall to put Northwest up 3-0. One out later and Jones brought Smith home again with a double, this time to right center.

Northwest added two more runs in the fifth inning when senior center-fielder Melissa Skelly pounded a double to the left field wall that scored courtesy runners for Carter and Jones.

After adding a run in the sixth, the Cougars plated two more in the seventh on RBI singles from Skelly and Mathis, while Jones salted the game away from the pitching rubber. Jones struck out seven batters in her complete-game victory.

Wednesday's first game against Shawnee Mission South was the completion of a storm-shortened game from the week before in which the Cougars had led 9-0 after four innings. Senior Kelly Martin finished what she started in that contest, ending the game after five innings as Northwest was able to tack on one more run for a mercy-rule shortened contest. Martin then headed back to the circle for game number two and picked up another complete game victory, 5-2 over the Raiders. Offensively, Jobe and Jones were the stars for the Cougars, with Jones going 2-for-3 with an RBI and Jobe collecting one hit in three at-bats.

Thursday's finales saw perhaps the toughest matchup for the Cougars in Game 1 against Shawnee Mission East. The Cougars jumped out to an early 1-0 lead only to see the Lancers pull even late in the contest. Northwest was able to load the bases in the top half of the seventh inning when Skelly's hot roller to third scored the go-ahead run. Jones then slammed the door in the bottom half of the inning, allowing Northwest to claim win number five on the week.

The nightcap was a more dominant display by the Cougars as the offensive and defensive cogs came together to dismantle a game East squad.

Sophomore Kasey Martin began the offensive onslaught with an RBI single down the first base line, scoring junior Amanda Freeman from second. Jobe then lined a single between shortstop and third, plating another run. One batter later and Mathis placed a looping single to center scoring Martin to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.

Martin went on to have a 3-for-4 night with an RBI, while Freeman was 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. But the stat line of the night lay with Jones, who struck out eight of the first nine batters she faced. She struck out 12 batters in all, allowed only one hit and had a perfect game going until the bottom of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the third inning, Jones struck out three straight Lancer batters on nine straight pitches.

While Balderston is happy with his team's progress, he is not at all complacent. Especially with defending state champion Olathe East on the horizon. Fixating on East may be a problem in itself.

"We cannot overlook Olathe North or Olathe Northwest (Northwest's next two opponents)," said Balderston. "I told the girls that we could regret it if we do. We need to work a little bit on our communication between the outfield and the infield. When the ball goes in between them we sometimes run into trouble."

Balderston also recognizes that though the season has gone completely to plan so far, part of that is due to good fortune. He points specifically to the Cougars' narrow win in the first game against Shawnee Mission East.

"We got 10 hits in that game but we couldn't get them at the right time," Balderston said. "East really wanted it. We were lucky to get that win.

"But I told the girls that in order to have a special season the ball has to hop, spin, or kick the right way. I also told them we have to put ourselves in a position to be lucky."