No runs were chalked up by the middle innings of Manhattan High’s first game against Topeka High, but after three runs put up all in one play, MHS got into the swing of their first doubleheader of the season to win 9-2.

“It feels great and we did it with two outs,” senior Savannah Thaemert said. “These two games make me very excited because we found out that we can battle and we have a team that won’t give up.”

Several runs followed to finish out the first game before time at the seventh inning. As the team got over their nerves of the first game, coach Monty Enright noted how the team settled in and started hitting better and fielding the ball.

“Sometimes you get complacent when you get ahead and you think you’ve got them when you’re up by a certain score,” Enright said. “I thought that we finished strong in that ballgame to finish them out where there was no really chance of a comeback by [Topeka High].”

As soon as the second game started, Manhattan faced difficulty as it transitioned between both games to get relaxed and settled in to the games.

T-High started out the game with three runs up on the board by the end of the first inning and several more would pass before MHS put up another run on the board. Despite a late rally by freshman Ayanna Gamble who put two runs up on the board, the game later ended with THS taking the second game of the night with four runs to the Lady Indians’ three.

“We’re going to realize that these teams can put up a fight and we can come back being down so many points,” Gamble said.

The team now works to assess the first two games’ mistakes as they prepare to face Shawnee Heights this Friday and to go into next week with Rossville at home.

“We’re going to improve our defense,” senior Lindsey Hageman said. “We’re going to take a lot of reps and make sure we cut out the errors.”