Warmelink stymies Allegan

By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor

Wayland’s Courtney Osborn (left) rounds second base as Allegan shortstop Molly Ketelaar awaits a throw. (Photo by Jason WesseldyK)

WAYLAND—One base on balls. One measly little walk.

That’s all that separated Wayland sophomore pitcher Heidi Warmelink from a perfect game in the Wildcats’ season-opener with Allegan Monday, April 14.

As it was, Warmelink settled for the no-hitter as Wayland picked up the 10-0 win in a game that was stopped in the fifth inning due to the mercy rule.

Wayland also went on to take the nightcap of the twinbill, winning 11-1 in five innings as pitcher Bri Langlois limited Allegan to one hit.

Wildcats coach Cheri Ritz was understandably pleased with her team’s effort in general and Warmelink’s performance in particular.

“It was a good first day for us,” Ritz said. “We were anxious to get outside and get going after all the bad weather we had and I was happy to see the girls play as well as they did.

“Heidi was very strong for us. She’s a good pitcher and she showed that by the way she was throwing in the first game.”

Warmelink, who set school records for wins (40), strikeouts (272) shutouts (20) and no-hitters (seven) as a freshman, fanned two hitters in the first inning and never slowed down. She finished with nine strikeouts.

The lone base runner for Allegan came in the top of the fourth inning when Paige Madison led off the frame with a free pass. Warmelink was ahead in the count 2-2, but missed with her next two pitches to put Madison aboard.

Madison made it as far as second base on a sacrifice bunt from Molly Ketelaar, but a pair of strikeouts helped Warmelink avoid further damage.

“Paige provided our offensive highlight,” first-year Allegan coach Libby Hammon said. “She was able to draw the walk to ruin Warmelink’s bid for a perfect game.”

Wayland already led 2-0 after two innings before tacking on three in the third to make it 5-0. A two-run double by Hannah Wierckz was the big hit of the frame.

Wayland pitcher Heidi Warmelink struck out nine Allegan batters in her five-inning no-hitter against the Tigers. (Photo by Jason Wesseldyk)

An inning later the Wildcats erupted for five more runs, getting a two-run double from Langlois, an RBI double from Kaitlin Carlson and a run-scoring single from Amanda Merren.

“We hit the ball pretty well today,” Ritz said. “We have some capable hitters, and we put the bat on the ball.”

Marisa Cochran pitched and took the loss for Allegan.

The second game was a little better for Allegan as the Tigers drew three walks, recorded one hit—a single off the bat of Megan Saucedo—and scored once against Langlois. It wasn’t nearly enough, however, as Wayland’s bats remained hot against Allegan pitcher Shelby Smith.

Warmelink paced the Wayland offense with a single, a double, a triple and three RBI in four at-bats, while Macy Merchant and Carlson each collected two hits. Kaitlin Graczyk doubled to drive home a pair of runs.

Langlois, meanwhile, finished with nine strikeouts.

“It was good to finally play some games and get a feeling for where we are and what things we need to work on in order to improve,” Hammon said. “ There is obviously room for improvement, but we are on our way now. As we play more games, we will get more comfortable with each other and more confident both offensively and defensively.”