Arrowhead softball’s junior third baseman Courtney Smith is a heroine to AHS softball fans, bringing the team back from a painful four-game losing streak, by beating Catholic Memorial 5-4.

Smith, who had two hits with two RBI’s, hit a magnificent frozen rope single to left field to bring in Nikki Kent for the game-winning run at the bottom of the seventh inning. “The game was on the line so I just tried to make some contact and put the ball in play. It was exciting to see the ball take off and make it into the outfield,” said Smith.

Pitching for the Warhawks was Jami Kessenich who pitched a six-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks.

“I was able to hit my spots and keep them off-balance at times. Throughout the game, I tried to work the corners of the plate and keep their big hitters in check. My teammates played great defense,” said Kessenich, excited about the big win.

The Warhawks had 10 hits in the rain and muddy field conditions, with big hits coming not only from Smith, but junior center fielder Alexis Vanstone and senior left fielder Kendra Mikulec.

With the win, the Hawks upped their record to 2-3 in conference and 3-6 overall.

“It was a big victory,” said Martin. “We played solid defense, backed it up with good hitting into the gaps and everything fell into place at the end.”

After losing their two previous games last week, the Warhawks girls softball team lost again to Menomonee Falls 5-4 after the Falls scored the winning run in the seventh on a wild pitch.

Arrowhead had a great game offensively against Falls, getting off nine hits, the highest number of hits against the undefeated Falls all season. Cassie Scheel (.333 on the season) finished 3 for 3, while Jami Kessenich drove in three of the four runs for the Warhawks. Other key hitters for the Warhawks include Courtney Smith at .391 and Ellie Enghofer at .368. As a team, the Warhawks are batting .304.

“I’m proud of the girls for how they hit the ball against the Falls. We did a nice job at the plate. We hit the ball good enough to win the game. Unfortunately, we killed ourselves with the bad defense. We just didn’t make the plays in the field,” said coach Martin of the Warhawks.

Kessenich pitched her best game of the season against Falls, allowing just five hits, walking one, and striking out seven.

The Warhawks ended the week 2-5 overall, and 1-3 in conference with a four-game week coming up.

Warharwks go down swinging

Arrowhead’s varsity softball team went down swinging yet again in last Thursdays match-up against Waukesha West losing 8-5. West pounced all over the Warhawks early, but the Hawks fought back, but with just six hits all game, the Warhawks were unable to come out on top.

Arrowhead scored one run early but lost the quick lead when the Wolverines came back scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. The lead increased as the Warhawks allowed another four-run explosion for West in the third.

Arrowhead pitcher Heidi Emmer came off the mound in the third as the Warhawks brought in sophomore Jami Kessenich to finish the game.

“Heidi Emmer is struggling for us on the mound right now, and hopefully she can get straightened out this week. She needs to work on her control. She’s not hitting her spots like she should,” said Arrowhead coach Emily Martin.

West brought the lead up to 8 after they scored their final run in the firth inning. Although Arrowhead tried to make their comeback with three runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh, it just wasn’t could enough.

“We fought back hard against West but just got too far behind,” said Martin. “We have to start getting out to the lead instead of playing for behind all the time.”

Junior Courtney Smith had two runs for the Hawks and Ellie Enghofer, Nikki Kent, and Cassie Scheel all added one.

Arrowhead suffer another conference match

The Arrowhead girls’ varsity softball team suffered their second defeat to conference rival Kettle Moraine 5-2 last Tuesday.

The Warhawks loss will give them a 2-3 overall record, and a 1-2 Classic 8 Conference record. After having a much earned 2-0 lead heading into the top of the fourth inning, the Warhawks and junior pitcher Heidi Emmer allowed five unanswered runs in its final four at bats.

Emmer started out strong retiring the first nine batters in order, but later yielding four walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches after a few control problems. She ended the game with 5 hits allowed, and 7 strikeouts.

“Heidi (Emmer) was forced into some tough situations in a close game today. She’s a great player, and a hard-nosed kid that will bounce right back,” said Coach Martin of the Warhawks.

In Arrowheads defense, Kettle Moraine pitcher Brynn Wessberg gave a solid performance in Tuesday’s game, pitching 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, and just 1 walk. She retired 13 of the Warhawks final 14 batters. Getting hits off of Wessberg were junior Alexis Vanstone with an infield hit, junior Ellie Enghofer with a double, and junior Courtney Smith had a nice single into centerfield.

“Kettle Moraine played really well, and today, I thought they were the better team between two good teams in a good softball game,” said Martin.