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Lampe twins torment Carmichaels, again

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ROGERSVILLE – Madison Lampe was in a self-admitted slump.

Despite coming off three consecutive multi-hit games, the West Greene High School softball third baseman still was unhappy.

Lampe turned that frown upside down Friday afternoon.

Her final hit to a complete a 4-for-4 day banged against the section championship banner hanging on the fence in left field for a double, a little reminder of recent dominance to former section rival Carmichaels. Lampe and her sister, McKenna, scored all five runs as West Greene downed the Mikes, 5-1, in a non-section game at Rice Energy Park.

“There are a lot of people that would like to slump like she is,” West Greene coach Bill Simms said, diffusing the severity of her so-called struggles.

The four-hit day for Madison Lampe was part of six hits for the twins. McKenna Lampe had two hits in her three at-bats. She also walked.

“I haven’t been hitting good,” Madison Lampe said. “I’ve just been getting back to the fundamentals and trying to get my stuff together. Today was one of my better days, so I’m pretty happy about that.”

The twins turned around a short-lived deficit West Greene (5-3) faced after Kylie Sinn hit a leadoff home run to begin the game for the Mikes.

McKenna Lampe raced around the bases after a leadoff single to tie the game and Madison, who hit a line-drive single to center field, scored on an RBI base hit by Jade Renner to give the Pioneers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the remaining five innings.

That was only the start of what the twins were able to do against Carmichaels (4-2). They both scored again in the second inning to take a 4-1 lead when Kaitlyn Rizor singled to right field.

West Greene scored its final run when Madison hit an RBI double that rocketed past the shortstop that rolled to the left-center field fence, scoring McKenna from first base.

In five career games against Carmichaels, all wins for the Pioneers, the Lampe sisters have combined for 19 hits, 19 runs and 12 RBI.

“It’s so difficult,” said Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs of stopping the two atop the Pioneers’ lineup.

“You can’t pitch around them. They can hit for power, bunt and run. They are just so difficult to deal with. If you want any chance of beating them you have to get them out somehow. We didn’t get them out.”

Carmichaels had several opportunities to trim its deficit but failed to capitalize on leadoff doubles to start the third and fourth innings. The Mikes stranded two runners after Sinn’s leadoff homer in the first inning and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

“We just couldn’t put it together,” Briggs said. “The last two games we’ve struggled at the plate, but we played with some energy today. We competed. There were a couple of things here or there that if they would have went a different way, it could have made it a little different.”

Renner recovered nicely in the circle after giving up the solo shot to start the game and having the Pioneers make two uncharacteristic errors in the first inning. She surrendered only five hits through seven innings and struck out six.

Carmichaels made solid contact against Renner but the Pioneers’ new-look infield – Kaitlyn Rizor made her first start of the season at shortstop and Katie Lampe played second base – stiffened with 13 putouts.

Since returning to Pennsylvania after losing three one-run games in its spring trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., West Greene has won four straight and outscored its opponents, 53-5.

“It’s just about talking one another up,” Madison Lampe said. “We can’t let one another get down. We have to move on from things. We have to pick each other up.”

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