By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
WAUSEON (March 25, 2026) – On a night when runs were scored as easily as they would be in a men’s slow-pitch softball game, Wauseon catcher Abigail Kissel capped a huge night with the biggest hit — a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave the Indians a 17-15 comeback victory over Pettisville.
“Our top and our bottom were really producing today,” Wauseon coach Ralph Leija III said. “The biggest switch was getting them pumped up, where the girls were being loud, being in the moment, and being aggressive.
“Don’t be off balance. Stay balanced and make good contact. They started doing that a lot more and adjusting.”
It was the Blackbirds who scored early and often, taking a 6-1 lead after two innings.
Naomi Richer got the first of her four hits in the game — a run-scoring triple in the top of the first — to put Pettisville on top. Bailey Booth’s base hit scored Richer to make it 2-0.
Wauseon answered when Kissel doubled into the left-field corner and rode home on Addie Baldwin’s RBI single to chop the Blackbird lead in half.
Richer’s second run-producing hit and a two-run single by Sophie Beltz were the big blows in the top of the second, as Pettisville put a four-spot on the board to take a five-run lead.
However, in the bottom of the third, it was the Indians’ bats that got hot — a trend that carried the rest of the game.
An error, a walk, and Kissel’s second hit of the game brought home one run, and when Pettisville got stuck trying to handle a first-and-third situation, another run crossed the plate to make it 6-3.
Shelbi Leija’s single drove in another Indian run, and a fourth scored on a throwing error to bring Wauseon within 6-5.
That four-run salvo by the Indians began a back-and-forth scoring duel that lasted the rest of the game.
Richer’s third run-scoring single, along with a two-RBI hit by Brynn Schwartz, put Pettisville up 9-5.
Wauseon got those three back when Bella McGuire tripled in one run, and Kissel followed with a two-run bomb over the center-field fence.
Richer delivered again in the top of the fifth, this time with a grand slam that put the Blackbirds ahead 13-8.
Again, Wauseon retaliated in the bottom of the inning, getting one more than the Blackbirds to knot the game.
McGuire’s slicing drive down the right-field line turned into a two-run inside-the-park home run to get Wauseon within 13-11. Leija’s RBI single and a Pettisville throwing error plated two more to tie the game.
Ali Genter put the Blackbirds up 15-13 when she drove a two-run shot over the center-field fence in the top of the sixth.
That lead disintegrated with two down in the bottom of the inning.
Breah Teal kept the inning alive with a base hit. Then it was Kassidy Noonan’s turn to play long ball, blasting one to center that easily cleared the fence to bring the Indians even.
McGuire laced her second triple of the day, and Kissel capped a spectacular 5-for-5 day with a mammoth two-run bomb to give the Indians their first lead of the game.
“She is delivering from last year,” Leija said. “She was over .500 last year, and the kid just keeps elevating her game. Power-wise, it has been there, and she has grown into that.”
Wauseon put the ball in Shelbi Leija’s hands in the top of the seventh, and the Indian left-hander accomplished something that was a rarity for the night — a 1-2-3 inning to close it out.
“Mentally, she is ready for the tough moments,” Leija said of his daughter, who took the mound in the final frame. “She brings calmness to everybody, and a lot of it is grounders or pop-ups. “That’s the difference there, psyche-wise.”
Wauseon (2-0) totaled 20 hits on the night, while Pettisville (0-2) had 12.
PHS 240 342 0 – 15 12 0
WHS 104 354 x – 17 20 1
WP- Shelbi Leija (IP-1.1, R-0, H-0, K-1, BB-0); LP- Macy Hoylman (IP-6, R-17, H-20, K-3, BB-2)
LEADING HITTERS: W- Abigail Kissel (2 home runs, double, 2 singles, 5 RBIs, 5 runs); Bella McGuire (home run, 2 triples, single, 3 RBIs, 4 runs); P- Naomi Richer (home run, triple, 2 singles, 7 RBIs); Ali Genter (home run, 2 singles, 3 RBIs, 4 runs)