With a twinbill sweep of the Braves, the Tonganoxie High softball team is off the schneid.

THS won convincingly, 11-0, for its first victory of the season and followed that up with a 3-2 squeaker.

So what was the difference between the doubleheader sweep and the first five games of the season, all of which Tonganoxie lost?

“We all just played as a team and our focus was more on the game,” said sophomore pitcher Tiffany Jacobs. “We were ready to play and ready for a win.”

Ready indeed. The Chieftains scored four in the first inning and three in the second on the way to a five-inning, mercy-rule victory.

Freshman Brooklyn Kerbaugh was the first to reach base with an infield single and the first to cross the plate when Jacobs drove her in with a single.

Makayla Leslie scored two more with a double to left field, and Alisha Barnes drove in Leslie with a single up the middle.

After senior Lauren Himpel singled, stole two bases and scored in the second, sophomore Kaitllyn Wolken hammered what turned out to be a two-run, inside-the-park home run.

“I hoped it went over the wall but it’s extremely hard to get it over this fence,” Wolken said. “I was ready to get one but I was hustlin’ as fast as I could run.”

Tonganoxie coach Diane Titterington said everything came together for the team in its first victory.

“We played very well that first game, offensively and defensively,” she said.

The defense had it easy with Jacobs pitching great for five innings. She threw just 40 pitches, allowed two hits and walked no one.

It seemed the win would give THS (2-5) plenty of momentum going into the next game but BSHS proved to be tougher the second go-round. The Chieftains were down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, when they scored all three of their runs.

“Sometimes when you win big like that, you’re not really prepared for the second game,” Titterington said, noting that it took her players a while to adjust to a different pitcher.

The Braves had to do the same as junior pitcher Angela Jacobs started in the circle for THS. She threw five innings but wasn’t feeling well and had to be replaced by her sister, Tiffany, who pitched the sixth and seventh for the victory.

Bonner Springs had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh with one out, but shortstop Wolken fielded a hard shot and flipped it to third for a game-ending double play.

Titterington said the team needed a tightly contested win to go with the blowout.

“It was good to win a close one too because there were several games (this season) that we could have won but didn’t pull through,” the coach said.

Another difference for THS in its first two wins, Tiffany Jacobs said, was the team’s hitting.

“I think people were intimidated or not quite as focused,” Jacobs said of the first five games, “and now we’re getting in the swing of things and we’re catching up.”

Next, Wolken said, the Chieftains have to maintain the confidence they have gained.

“I think we just need to keep focused and keep pushing forward, keep progressing because the teams aren’t going to get easier,” she said.