Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

OXFORD – Jim White returned to the scene of some of his greatest triumphs as a high school softball coach and it proved to be more of the same.

White’s fourth-ranked Solon Spartans swept host Clear Creek Amana in a doubleheader on Wednesday by scores of 8-4 and 8-5.

White helped build Clear Creek into a softball power before taking the Solon job prior to the 2013 season.

So he’s used to watching his team sweep doubleheaders at the field in Oxford, but the view from the visitor’s dugout still takes some getting used to.

“I wouldn’t say it was awkward, but there’s still a special meaning attached to it,” White said of facing his former team. “And I don’t think that will ever change.”

Solon improved to 15-5 overall, while the Clippers fell to 7-15 under first-year coach Matt Trosky.

Solon scored at least one run in each of the seven innings in the first game and at least one run in the first three innings of the second game, including four runs on five hits in the first inning.

The Spartans led 8-0 and had 12 hits after three innings in the second game against eighth-grade pitcher Peyton Grafft.

However, she settled down and allowed just one hit and no runs over the final four innings, earning praise from her head coach.

“Peyton did a great job tonight growing up and maturing,” Trosky said. “She was able to kind of push her shoulders back. She was able to fight through those last few innings and defense played great tonight, there is no question about it.

“We played ball with a great ball club. Coach White always has good ball clubs and Solon is definitely, this year, a team to be reckoned with.”

White said his players might have let up some in the second game after building a big lead and he partly blamed himself for that.

“It was 8-0 and I kind of backed off from running the bases and I probably shouldn’t have done that because that’s what makes this team go,” White said. “That’s how we score. We run the bases and dink things around and slap.

“We’re not like my power-hitting teams of old.”

Solon ran the bases aggressively in the first game behind sophomore Taylor Ryan and senior Bryn Hanrahan, who combined for six stolen bases, including four by Ryan. They both also scored two runs in the first game, while sophomore shortstop Taylor Moore smacked an RBI double, scored one run and made several nifty plays in the field. in the first game.

“We like scoring every inning and getting on (base) and just keep scoring and scoring,” said Moore, who also had two doubles in the second game and scored one run. “It helps us play better. It just keeps going.”

Moore was only in fifth grade when White made the switch from Clear Creek to Solon, so it’s not as if she grew up around the rivalry.

“We wanted to win for him, but he said it’s no big deal to him, like he can handle it,” Moore said. “So we just came out here and played our hardest.”

Moore sensed a change, though after Solon bolted to an 8-0 lead in the second game.

“After we got up 8-0, we kind of thought the game was over and we weren’t getting the hits that we needed to get a rally going,” Moore said.

White gave a similar assessment for why Solon’s bats turned silent in the second game.

“I thought we were playing extremely well and then I just think we thought the game was over, to be honest with you,” White said. “

Freshman Kayla West went the distance for Solon on the mound in the second game after pitching the seventh inning in the first game.

After committing no errors in the first game, Solon had six in the second game, including three in the fourth inning when Clear Creek scored two runs.

White acknowledged that Solon’s defense left something to be desired in the second game, but he also blamed it partly on the field conditions.

“Kayla does throw a drop and we do get a lot of ground balls, to be honest, and it was getting pretty rough,” he said of the field conditions in the second game. “They had so much rain here today.”

Hanrahan stayed hot in the second game by smacking four singles and scoring two runs from her lead-off spot in the order.

Game 1

Solon               111  112  1  –  8  11  0

Clear Creek    200  101  0  –  4   7   2

McKenna Miller, Kayla West (7) and Jess Heick; Raina Henze Lydia Banwart.

W – McKenna Miller  L – Raina Henze

2B – SOL: Taylor Moore

3B – SOL: Bryn Hanrahan

HR – CCA: Ainsley Schrock (CCA).

Game 2

Solon            422  000  0  –  8  13  6

Clear Creek    001  201  1  –  5  11  5

Kayla West and Jess Heick; Peyton Grafft and Banwart.

W – Kayla West L – Peyton Grafft

2B – SOL:Taylor Moore (2), McKenna Miller, Tara Lance. CCA: Karsyn Stratton