Yoways tosses gem for Hanover

Updated: May 24, 2011 10:53PM

Ah, creativity.

There were multiple forms of it in Tuesday’s Hanover Central-Lake Station matchup in the Wheeler Sectional.

One was the Lake Station players’ socks: tie-dyed in red and black school colors. Then there was the players and fans stepping in when a technical difficulty led to the National Anthem being a no-show. Give them an “A” for effort.

And while we’re handing out superior grades, how about one for Wildcats freshman pitcher Ashley Yoways, who struck out six of the first eight batters she faced before tossing a complete-game two-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory?

“I don’t know, I guess I was a little nervous before the game and it kind of gave me a little umph,” Yoways said.

More importantly, Lake Station didn’t know how to solve Yoways, who did not allow a runner beyond second base while striking out eight, a total 180 from her performance against Chesterton last week when she gave up 20 hits and walked eight in a 7-5 loss.

“That’s probably one of the best games she’s pitched in a long time,” said Hanover Central coach Larry McMillen. “This game she was focused and was in the strike zone a lot. I don’t believe she walked anybody (she didn’t) and she didn’t have many 3-2 counts today. I was pretty happy how she pitched”

Her hitting wasn’t too bad, either. She had two hits, including an RBI single to kick off a four-run second inning, which was followed by a two-run single by sophomore outfielder Tiphani Ward.

It was that one tough fourth inning that was the undoing for Eagles pitcher Shelby Jorgensen, also a freshman, who pitched well the other six innings, only giving up four hits and no runs while striking out five.

“I think Shelby did a great job pitching. I think we have a lot of great things to look forward to with some of the young players that we have,” Lake Station coach Linda Ilewelyn said.

Hanover Central has a Thursday date with either defending 2A state champion Wheeler or Noll in the sectional title game. The Warriors kicked off the sectional with an impressive win over River Forest.

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