By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Silver Lake slugged its way into the second day of the 3A state softball tournament, ripping three home runs in a 10-0 opening-round win over Cheney at Lake Shawnee Thursday.
Silver Lake junior Taylor Zordel (6) is congratulated by her teammates at home plate after hitting a grand slam in the Eagles' 10-0 first-round state tournament win over Cheney. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior pitcher Kendra Cook allowed just two hits in four innings, picking up the win in Silver Lake's 10-0 state tournament win over Cheney. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Eagles, seeded fourth in the eight-team bracket, defeated the fifth-seeded Cardinals in a five-inning blowout, giving themselves a little extra rest before the second round. The Eagles will face undefeated top-seed Holcomb at 11 a.m. Friday.
Silver Lake jumped on the Cardinals in the first inning on a two-run homer from junior Kira Lowrey.
Two more runs in the second frame gave Eagles junior pitcher Kendra Cook a comfortable cushion. Cook rolled through the Cardinal lineup, surrendering just two singles and a hit batter.
“She’s got a great defense behind her,” Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton said of Cook. “I think that helps. When you’ve got confidence in your teammates, it’s easy to go up there and throw what you want to throw.”
The Eagles blew the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning with junior Taylor Zordel launching a based-loaded home run, putting the game away.
“We were all hitting the ball well and I think our defense was really solid. It was my turn to hit the ball hard somewhere,” Zordel said. “I think (this win) gave us a lot of confidence. We know we’re better than that team and we just proved that we’re here ready to make a good run.”
Following Zordel in the batting order, senior Makenzie McDaniel put a punctuation mark on the win with a blast that cleared the left-field fence by a significant distance.
Leading 10-0 and needing a shutout inning to force a shortened game, Hamilton replaced Cook with senior pitcher Avery Wende. The move allowed Cook a little extra rest for Friday’s games.
“This team is definitely one of the most special teams in the state of Kansas in all classes,” Cook said. “We have such a tight bond. We’re all best friends. We always have each other’s backs, and we trust each other 100 percent.”
The Eagles improved to 23-2 on the season. Their only losses came against 6A Lawrence Free State and 4A Wamego.
“They’ve earned that quiet confidence all year with the season they’ve had and the competition they’ve played,” Hamilton said. “They’ve just got to go out and do what they’ve done.”
Silver Lake can breathe a little easier having survived the one-and-done format of the first round.
If Silver Lake wins Friday against Holcomb, the Eagles will play for the championship at 5 p.m. Friday. Should the Eagles lose, they would play in a consolation game at 3 p.m.
“Getting this win today takes the ‘What if?’ out of their brains,” Hamilton said. “They punched their ticket. Now they’ve just got to go prove it.”
“I think there is a little bit of pressure (to win the first-round game), but our team as a whole dynamic is very loose,” said Zordel. “I think we have so much confidence in ourselves and our teammates that it’s not as much pressure as you would think there would be.”
CLASS 3A SOFTBALL
SILVER LAKE 10, CHENEY 0
Cheney (19-3) 000 00 — 0 3 0
Silver Lake (23-2) 220 6x — 10 11 1
Cook, Wende (5) and Swygert. McCormick, Block (4) and Young. W — Cook. L — McCormick. 2B — Silver Lake: Lowrey. HR — Silver Lake: Lowrey, Zordel, McDaniel.
