WNC Softball: Wildcats turn corner at home against Snow College

A one-hit shutout by freshman pitcher Kristina George and a three-run homer by Lauren Lesniak carried Western Nevada College to a dominant 7-0 victory over Snow College in the first game of a Scenic West Athletic Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday at Edmonds Sports Complex in Carson City.

George also picked up the victory in game two, relieving Nicole Lesniak with WNC trailing in the fifth, as the Wildcats rallied with some aggressive base running for a 5-4 win.

"Kristina's really been a sleeper for us," said WNC coach Leah Wentworth. "We knew she had a lot of potential to continue to grow as a pitcher and I certainly couldn't have foreseen her being as strong as she is, but she has the work ethic. She's just a smart pitcher. She knows when to change speeds and exactly where she wants to place each pitch."

The wins enabled WNC to raise its conference and overall records above .500 for the first time ever this late in the season. The Wildcats are 13-12 overall and 8-7 in the SWAC, only one-half game behind third-place College of Southern Nevada. The two teams meet Friday and Saturday in Henderson with third place on the line.
George was trying to become first pitcher in program history to throw a no-hitter. She was unaware of taking a no-no into the final inning.

"I made sure I used my corners effectively, and I used my riseball a lot and they were barely able to get the bottom of the bat on top of it, so that is why it wasn't going very deep," George said.

Although the freshman was spotty with her control, walking five through six innings, George didn't allow a ball hit out of the infield until the seventh inning.

"She has such movement on every pitch and every pitch is different, from the riseball to the screwball, everything is moving," Lauren Lesniak said. "Even if she misses a little bit, it's still moving and it's still hard to hit.
"Even in practice, we all say we can't hit off of her, so I can imagine how the other team feels when they barely ever face her."

In the seventh, though, Renée Fagg broke up the no-hitter with a one-out double to center field. With the no-hitter gone, George focused on preserving the shutout, retiring the next two Badgers.

WNC left two runners on base in the first two innings. A single by Melanie Mecham and a double down the left-field line by Lauren Lesniak put runners on second and third bases. However, Kacie Freudenberger popped up to short to end the threat. In the second, Dakota Robinson singled to left field and went to second on a walk to Samantha Bell, but leadoff hitter Makaylee Jaussi's infield fly kept the game scoreless.

George retired the first six Badgers, including three on strikes. Snow didn't put its first runner on base with a leadoff walk to Brooke Davis in the third inning, but George stranded her on third base by getting leadoff hitter Cassidy Anderson to foul out to third baseman Briauna Carter on a 2-0 pitch.

"Ahhhhh boom!" That exclamation accurately describes what WNC sophomore catcher Lauren Lesniak did to the Badgers in the third. With her team struggling to deliver a clutch hit with two outs in the first two innings, the sophomore catcher belted a pitch from Riley Cox for a three-run homer.

"That's crucial in a game. You always need people to get your momentum going, and Lauren does a great job of being able to give us that big, big play to be able to win the game," George said.

Lauren Lesniak was greeted at the plate by her teammates who decorated her feat with the aforementioned "Ahhhhh boom" cheer. A walk to Mecham and a base hit by Gabriella Canibeyaz preceded Lesniak's blast.
"I just went up there tried to get a hit because we really need to score first because when we score first we usually come out with the win," Lauren Lesniak said.

The home run triggered some more Wildcat offense in the fourth. Katilyn Covione slugged a solo home run to right, putting WNC ahead 4-0. After an infield single by Bell, Jaussi's bunt single between the plate and the pitcher allowed Bell to take third base when no one covered the bag. Jaussi stole second base on the next pitch before Mecham lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Bell for a 5-0 WNC lead. Jaussi scooted home for the third run of the inning on a groundout to short by Canibeyaz.

"I felt confident that it was just a matter of time. They were putting the ball in play and hitting it right at people," Wentworth said.

Lesniak was a tough out for the Badgers. She was 4 for 4 with two extra-base hits and four RBI. Canibeyaz had a double and a singled and scored two runs.

Snow jumped out on top 1-0 in the first inning of game two, parlaying two hits off WNC starting pitcher Nicole Lesniak into its first run of the afternoon.

WNC came back with two runs in the second. Nicole Lesniak and Jaussi delivered run-scoring singles off Riley Cleverly to put the Wildcats on top 2-1.

Snow rallied, however, as four hitters reached base after two were out in the fifth inning. Emily Adams' RBI base hit tied the score and Karlee Manzione's two-strike double to center with two outs put the Badgers in front, 3-2.
The go-ahead hit ended Nicole Lesniak's afternoon in the circle. She gave up seven hits and three earned runs, while striking out three and walking one.

Snow's lead was short-lived. The Wildcats used aggressive base running in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, 4-3. With Jaussi on third base and Mecham on second, Canibeyaz hit a groundball to the right side that sent Jaussi home. The freshman slid around the tag of catcher Fagg to tie the score. Fagg then fired the ball back to first to attempt to catch Canibeyaz breaking to second base. This allowed Mecham to break for the plate. She also slid around Fagg's tag, restoring a one-run WNC lead.

"We've talked about being more aggressive on the bases, just because they are threats with their speed, and I've told them that we shouldn't be giving the benefit of the doubt to the defense, particularly when they have to make good throws and good tags," Wentworth said. "I'm happy with them being more aggressive; it definitely paid off for us."

George, the pitching star of game one, took over in the circle for Nicole Lesniak.

"We kind of call her a jitterbug on the mound. She's got a different motion, changes the speed and has a lot of good spin, so we kind of envisioned her being a closer for us," Wentworth said. "They were timing Nicole, so I felt Kristina was the best bet to go back to."

After getting out of two-baserunner jam in the fifth, George shut down a final-out rally by the Badgers in the seventh to secure the victory. A single along the left-field line by Manzione pulled the Badgers within 5-4. Cassidy Anderson followed with a base hit but the Badgers decided to hold Shaylee Larsen at third.

"It's hard to stay aggressive under pressure, and that's something I've talked about with more girls," Wentworth said. "In those situations you don't want to give the benefit of the doubt to the defense."

The Badgers station-to-station approach in the final inning didn't pan out as George induced Megan Hansen to pop up in front of the plate. The Wildcat pitcher caught the high pop fly while Carter caught her while she was falling to the ground. The umpire waited to see the ball in George's glove before calling out Hansen to end the game.

Cleverly limited the Wildcats to eight hits. Jaussi collected three of them and drove in two of the Wildcats' five runs. Jaussi and Covione stroked doubles for the Wildcats.