Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – At first glance the scores from Solon’s season-opening doubleheader sweep at the hands of Class 4A ninth-ranked West Delaware on Monday looked like a blowout.

First-year Solon head coach Dave Johnson saw something different.

“The scores from Monday were kind of lopsided but we didn’t play bad,” Johnson said. “They are a great opponent and they had a good night.”

After reviewing the games and taking a closer look at the stats Johnson didn’t see a need for sweeping changes opting instead for a few simple improvements.   

On Wednesday Solon saw those small changes pay big dividends.

Solon hammered 24 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Center Point-Urbana (2-2) on Wednesday, winning the opener 11-1 in five innings and taking the nightcap 12-0 in three innings.

“We picked out three things to really work on the last two days to really get better and the girls really bought into it and worked at it the last couple of days,” Johnson said. “I think it showed up tonight.”

After scoring two total runs on Monday against West Delaware the Spartans scored at least two runs in every at bat on Wednesday while improving to 2-2 on the season.

While the offense got rolling three Solon pitchers combined to shut down Center Point-Urbana, allowing just one run on six hits in the doubleheader.

Sophomore Carly Ellison picked up the win in both games, working a combined four scoreless innings.

Kayla West tossed two scoreless innings of relief in the opener and eighth-grader Kendall Jensen worked an inning in game one.

“I think it really helped us get ahead in the season and boost our confidence,” Ellison said. “This is just the type of game that we needed.”

The pitching was strong and Solon played errorless defense behind them but it was the emergence of the Spartan offense that was the headliner on Wednesday.

Eight Spartans had a hit in the opener with six different Solon players posting multi-hit games.

Ellison went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBI and Jadyn Jeter went 3-for-3 to lead a 14-hit attack.

Hilary Wilson, Sarah Heick, Peyton Sands and Monet Barnhouse each added two hits.

“After Monday we talked about playing as a team and not individually,” Johnson said. “We wanted to be strong one through nine in our lineup and we were able to do that tonight and we actually have a couple more kids we’d like to get in the lineup that we just don’t have room for.”
Solon had four consecutive two-out hits in the first inning of the opener with Ellison providing the big blow with an RBI triple to right field and coming around to score on a throwing error.

Solon added two runs in the second, three in the third and three more in the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Ellison.

“We just went out there and knew what we had to do,” Ellison said. “We’ve been practicing all of those things the last few days and it is really coming together.”

Solon struck early in the nightcap as Wilson lead off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run to left field.

The freshman shortstop went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the nightcap including a single to left field that ended the game in the third inning via the run rule.

Ellison had a hit and two RBI in game two while Jeter was 2-for-3 with a two-run double.

“When you don’t have the bats you really don’t have much,” Ellison said. “That’s a really important thing and we have people all through the lineup that can hit.”

Ellison allowed just two hits in a three-inning shutout in game two, retiring the final six batters she faced.

“I’ve been working on pitching all offseason and all my pitches were moving well tonight,” Ellison said. “My screwball was working tonight.”

Game 1

Center Point-Urbana             000  10  –   1   4   3

Solon                                      323  3x  –  11  14  0

W – Carly Ellison                   L – Nicole Coppess

2B – SOL: Carly Ellison CPU: Reagan Schutte

3B – SOL: Carly Ellison

Game 2

Center Point-Urbana             000  –  0    2    5

Solon                                      255  –  12  10  0

W – Carly Ellison                   L – Olivia Perez

2B – SOL: Jadyn Jeter, Ava Stebral

HR – SOL: Hilary Wilson

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