MONTICELLO | Times No. 2 Andrean was looking at the big picture on Saturday, playing three games in less than 24 hours at the 16-team Twin Lakes Invitational.
The 59ers (17-2) opted to give ace Nikki Steinbach a rest, pitching Brenna Boyle and Hannah Kulesa in what amounted to a 4-1 loss to Western.
"It gives you the chance to play different players because you play so many games," Andrean coach Brooke Baker-Runyon said. "It allows you to do things you wouldn't do in conference or in sectionals."
Andrean bounced back to beat Benton Central 15-1, but Western advanced to the semifinals with an 8-3 win over Hanover (12-10) to finish pool play 3-0.
The Niners, 2-1 in pool play, needed a Hanover win with the Wildcats scoring at least 6 runs to capture the three-way tiebreaker of least runs allowed to reach the day's semifinal games. In that scenario, Andrean, Hanover and Western would've been tied in pool play.
Baker-Runyon said her squad gave up too many extra bases in the morning game loss to the Panthers.
"Defensively, we didn't play well enough to win," she said.
Steinbach blasted a 3-run homer, while Johnee Rodish had a double and Catherine Murad added two hits.
"Some other players got into the game who normally don't get to play, so that's a good thing," Baker-Runyon said.
Four of the five Northwest Indiana teams didn't advance out of pool play with Crown Point winning its pool.
Earlier in the day, Hanover beat Benton Central 6-4 as Ashley Yoways went 3-for-5 with a double and a RBI. Johnna Rozek was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Hanover coach Larry McMillen said he didn't seen effort from his Wildcats.
"If you don't put out the effort, you don't win ballgames," he said.
Lowell was 0-3 for the tournament after losing to Frontier 4-2 and host Twin Lakes 10-5. It lost to Eastern 7-6 on Friday.
Munster finished the tournament 1-2, beating Cass 5-2 before falling to Lafayette Jeff 2-0 on Saturday. The Mustangs also lost to Pioneer 10-5 on Friday.
Sadie Conner was 2-for-4 with a triple in the win over Cass, while Tayler Michalski added a double.
Munster coach Beth Thornburg wasn't pleased with her team's effort.
"We played very poorly this weekend," she said. "We didn't hit very well. We had way too many errors."
The Mustangs (14-9) committed 14 errors in three games.
"That's why we're sitting at home right now," Thornburg said.
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