MANSFIELD — The 1980s Oakland A’s had the Bash Brothers. Madison has the Sisters of Slam.
Katie Mullins and Katie Clever did their best impressions of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, belting back-to-back home runs in the first inning as the Rams rumbled to an 11-2 win over crosstown rival Mansfield Senior on an overcast but mild Wednesday afternoon.
Madison (2-1, 2-0) completed the home-and-home sweep of the Tygers (0-2, 0-2). The Rams won Tuesday’s meeting 15-0 in five innings.
Madison’s first five batters all reached base Wednesday and they all scored. Mullins, the Rams’ clean-up hitter, belted a two-run shot and Clever followed with a solo homer.
“Our first five kids scored. Three of them bunted to start the game and then we hit two bombs,” Madison coach Tim Niswander said. “We told the kids that, despite the score (Tuesday) night, Mansfield Senior is pretty good and we can’t afford to let them hang around.
“We told them that we had to get out of the gate fast and I don’t know if you can get out of the gate any faster than that.”
The script was similar to the one the Rams used Tuesday at Madison.
“Tuesday was the same way, without the home runs. We scored early and we kept adding on,” Niswander said. “We didn’t get out of the gate Monday (in a season-opening 7-5 loss to Bucyrus). We didn’t hit the ball until about the fifth inning.
“We told our girls that if you get out of the gate quickly, you put more pressure on the other team and you have a much better chance of being successful so we have to be focused right out of the gate.”
The Rams added two more runs in the third when speedy senior shortstop Liz Sutter stroked a two-run single.
Madison took a comfortable 7-0 lead into the sixth inning before surrendering a pair of unearned runs. Niswander called timeout and had a one-sided conversation during a mound conference after the Rams gift-wrapped the first of Senior High’s runs.
What was the message?
“Pay attention,” Niswander said. “We caught a pop fly and it was a tough catch, but then we forgot runners were on base. If you make an error, you make an error, but mental mistakes are inexcusable if we want to get back to where we were a year ago.”
The Rams won the OCC championship and advanced to the regional championship game last spring.
“We’re a little bit away from where we were last year. We’ve got to get better defensively and we don’t have the same kind of power, despite what happened today,” Niswander said. “Our young kids will grow up and get experience as the season goes on and we’re hoping, much like last year, we get better and better as we go.
“We hope we get to that point. That team was pretty good.”
Madison scored four more runs in the top of the seventh inning and pitcher Paige Whistler made quick work of the Tygers in the bottom of the frame to pick up her second career victory. The freshman gave up four hits and struck out four.
“She has thrown every inning for us this year,” Niswander said. “Aside from a couple of mistakes she made against Bucyrus on Monday, she has thrown the ball pretty well.
“She doesn’t seem to get flustered out there. She’s learning to throw strikes and get ahead. That was our biggest concern and she is learning to do that early.”
Bailey Kiser led the Rams with three hits and three runs batted in. Sutter had two hits and two RBIs, as did Mullins. Alexis Sneed and freshman catcher Alexis Crider each had a pair of hits.
Jeryn Reese took the loss for Mansfield Senior. She struck out two and helped her own cause with a pair of base hits.
Mansfield Senior coach Joe Townley declined comment after the game.
“Jeryn pitched well against us a year ago and she hit well against us, too,” Niswander said. “We had to make her throw pitches. We wanted our girls to get a pitch they could handle and drive the ball somewhere.”
Madison is at Maumee today, weather permitting. The Rams will play in the MVD Challenge Tournament in Ashland on Friday and Saturday.
“We want to play as good of a nonconference schedule as we can early in the season,” Niswander said. “It’s going to help us figure out who we are and what we need to improve on.
“I think we are starting to establish our identity.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“Our first five kids scored. Three of them bunted to start the game and then we hit two bombs,” Madison coach Tim Niswander said. “We told the kids that, despite the score (Tuesday) night, Mansfield Senior is pretty good and we can’t afford to let them hang around.”
