After getting in just one game during the opening week of the 2022 softball season, Norwalk has made up for lost time in a big way since Memorial Day. The Warriors capped a 6-1 week on Saturday with two wins at the Oskaloosa Classic.

Ranked 13th in the latest Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union softball rankings for Class 4A, Norwalk rode excellent pitching from sophomore Olivia Daugherty and junior Zadie Wadle in victories of 4-0 over North Mahaska and 2-1 over Class 3A 2nd-ranked Mount Vernon, which entered the day with a perfect 10-0 record.

Daugherty pitched a complete-game three-hit shutout against North Mahaska with 11 strikeouts while Nyah Hulbert and Kaylee Cary both had two hits offensively.

Wadle was even more dominant against Mount Vernon, striking out 17 batters in a masterful two-hitter. Lauren Black and Morgan Weeks led the Warriors with two hits each, including a solo home run by Black in the second inning and Weeks’ game-winning RBI single in the fifth.

Norwalk will take a 7-1 overall record and a 4-0 Little Hawkeye Conference mark into Monday’s varsity doubleheader at Newton.

All-Tournament Honors:
A pair of Norwalk seniors were named to the Class 2A All-Tournament Team following the championship round of the Girls State Soccer Tournament on Saturday.

JoJo Bice and Hannah Kehoe were both named All-Tournament by the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association after helping the Warriors advance to the 2A semifinals for the second consecutive year. Bice scored all three goals during the team’s 3-1 state quarterfinal win over Lewis Central on Tuesday and found the back of the net 46 times on the season. Kehoe, meanwhile, was a top-notch defender and a big reason the Warriors allowed just 12 goals all season.

Norwalk lost to defending 2A champion Waverly-Shell Rock 1-nil in Thursday’s semifinal round and finished the year with an overall record of 17-4.