K.C. Hehnke liked what he saw in his debut as Grand Island Senior High softball coach on Thursday.
And what's not to like after the Islanders swept Hastings by identical 8-0 scores in a pair of six-inning games at Fonner Park?
"We hit the ball extremely well, we pitched extremely well and we did not have one error," Hehnke said.
Both games followed the same format for Grand Island: The Islanders scored two runs in the first inning, then piled up the scores late.
Sara Petska hit a two-run home run in the first inning of the first game, and the Islanders ended things by the eight-run mercy rule by using three Hastings errors to score four runs in the sixth.
Petska's two-run single put G.I. up 2-0 in the first inning of the second game, and it pulled away with a five-run fourth that saw the Islanders string together four straight hits.
Hehnke said it was understandable that it took a while for the runs to come.
"Our girls looked a bit nervous," he said. "The pitcher for Hastings (Mariah Walker) threw 3-4 good pitches and threw us off a little bit in the first game.
"Hastings played well. We were just able to outplay them. It's a great start with two wins, each by the eight-run rule."
The Islanders also got two strong pitching performances. In the opener, Taryn Trosper gave up two hits while striking out six and walking one.
Jessica Marisch cruised in the second game after getting out of a bases-loaded first inning. She allowed five hits and matched Trosper by striking out six and walking one.
"We had two shutouts and got a great job by our pitchers," Hehnke said. "Taryn Trosper played an outstanding game in the first game. Jessica Marisch is coming off a slight groin injury and didn't practice much this week. She pitched nicely."
The Islander defense also came up with several big plays to preserve the shutouts. Hehnke credited freshman second baseman Sydney Trosper with a strong defensive effort.
Grand Island totaled 25 hits over the doubleheader. The top three in the order did the most damage -- Emily Mierau, Alissa Christensen and Mackenzie Tomlin finished a combined 12-for-20 with seven runs and six RBIs.
Hehnke said the team will face a tougher challenge at Saturday's Lincoln Public Schools Invitational.
"We have a tough draw," he said. "We'll face Lincoln Southwest, who was second in state in Class A, and Elkhorn, who won Class B. They both have a lot of pitching back.
"We play Waverly in the first game, and they have one of the top pitchers in the state. We'll have to play extremely well to be competitive."
Hastings 000 000--0 2 4
Grand Island 200 024--8 13 0
WP--T. Trosper. LP--Walker. 2B--GI, Mierau, Tomlin. HR--GI, Petska.
Hastings (0-2) 000 000--0 5 1
Grand Island (2-0) 200 501--8 12 0
WP--Marisch. LP--Walker. 2B--GI, Richardson, Tomlin.
