SPANGDAHLEM, Germany – Spring 2024 hasn’t been kind to the Spangdahlem softball team.

The Sentinels have had two away doubleheaders against Alconbury and Naples turned into scrimmages over a lack of umpires. That has left the only official contests ahead of Saturday against Division I opponents Lakenheath, Stuttgart and Wiesbaden.

So, when Sigonella traveled north from Italy for a doubleheader, the Sentinels were excited to see how they handle competition in the same division.

After Saturday, they know they can compete. The Jaguars won the first game 21-9, but the Sentinels bounced back in the afternoon session with a 13-9 victory – the team’s first of the season.

“I think this was a really good morale booster for all of our new players,” Spangdahlem pitcher Riley Lombardo said. “This is the game where everything clicked into place.”

Following the first inning of the first game, it looked like much of the same for Spangdahlem (1-7, 1-1).

Sigonella (4-4, 4-4) amassed 13 runs, including having the first 13 of 14 batters reach base safely. This outburst came without the Jaguars recording a single hit.

The Jaguars added another five runs in the top of the second, putting the Sentinels into an 18-0 hole.

After that point, the Sentinels took control. They outscored Sigonella 21-12 and outhit their opponent 10-2 the rest of the doubleheader.

“I think our girls sometimes get a little bit of stage fright, and I saw that in the first game, that first inning especially,” Spangdahlem coach Jillian Besemer said. “But I think they got over their nerves.”

The offensive explosion wasn’t new to the Sentinels, but the consistency over a series was. Spangdahlem reached double digits twice in losses to Lakenheath and Wiesbaden, but never had the team eclipsed 20 crossing home plate before Saturday.

One of the big bats was Talyssa Link, as the center fielder went 4 for 6 from the plate. Catcher Alajah Jiggetts drove in a pair of runs on a single up the middle during a six-run third inning of the second game.

The Sentinels also deployed an aggressive approach to baserunning. They stole 19 bases on the day, with 13 coming in the second game. Lombardo dashed for five herself, while left fielder/designated hitter Bailee Haffner totaled four.

“We’ve been struggling batting because we’ve been playing against D-I teams a lot,” Lombardo said. “I think this is a really important game to us because we will be playing them in Euros, so this is good practice.”

For Sigonella, it was a missed chance to clinch a sweep since the opening weekend against Hohenfels.

Coach Kendra LaRocca explained how the Jaguars worked on limiting the errors that have plagued them in recent weeks. For an inning and a half, it seemed as if they got the message, but things then went downhill.

Third baseman Nyeema Fernandez did do some damage with her bat. She blasted the games’ lone extra-base hits – a two-run double to center in the second inning of the first game and a two-run triple to left field in a six-run second inning of the afternoon contest.

“We’ve practiced really hard,” LaRocca said. “We came out yesterday and did some practice here, and it was looking good. I thought maybe they got it together. But it didn’t turn out that way.”

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