Wooster is the team to beat in Northern 4A softball

RENO - Looking at the scorebook numbers on Saturday, there's no doubt the Wooster Colts are the team to beat in Northern 4A softball right now.

Jenne Bator and freshman Brianne McGowan combined to pitch five-hit ball over 12 innings as Wooster swept Carson High School 10-0 and 5-0 in a showdown between unbeaten Northern 4A contenders.

Wooster, with eight starters back from a team that won last year's zone tournament championship, is now 4-0 and has won those games by a combined 35-1 score.

Carson coach John Sullivan made no excuses after watching the Senators drop to 5-2.

"Wooster just outplayed us, that's all there is to it," Sullivan said. "They have strong pitching and they hit the ball well one-through-nine in the lineup. I thought our pitchers threw well, but when Wooster hits the ball like they did today, they're going to be tough to beat."

"We didn't play up to our potential today, but it's a long season. I'm sure we'll play them again at some point and time."

Now, here's some scary news. Wooster has yet to allow an earned run this season, and ace pitcher Chelsea Crosby is still sidelined with a broken bone in her pitching hand. Crosby, the 1999 Northern 4A Player of the Year, is expected to return soon.

She wasn't needed Saturday. Bator, a junior, allowed two hits over five innings to blank the Senators in game one. McGowan, whose Reno Diamonds summer team finished third at the ASA 14-year-old nationals last year, allowed three hits and struck out 10 over seven innings in game two.

Wooster coach Dick Allen was pleased with the all-around performance of the Colts.

"We had great pitching, timely hitting and we were able to manufacture runs. I was really pleased with the way we played today," Allen said. "They're not real rah rah girls, but they came out focused today. They knew what they had to do and they executed well."

The 6-foot-1 McGowan also showed she can hit in the opener when she slugged a long three-run home run over the fence in left-center to give Wooster a 7-0 lead.

Carson's best scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning when hit a leadoff triple Chrissy Joseph tripled to the fence in right field. She stayed there as McGowan rang up a full-count strikeout and then proceeded to strike out the next two batters on three straight pitches.

Nicole Freeman pitched well in her first start of the season for Carson. The senior right-hander, a returning all-conference pitcher who has been hindered by a sore knee, allowed eight hits over six innings. She struck out six and walked two (one intentionally).

Carson faces another big test on Tuesday when it hosts defending state champion Galena at 3:30 p.m.