Kaiserslautern, Patch and Vilseck all remained unbeaten in weekend play to set up final-weekend showdowns this week for the Eastern and Western Regional softball championships.

Kaiserslautern downed visiting AFNORTH 10-0 and 11-2 behind two more dominating pitching performances by Lauren Hawkins; visiting Vilseck swept Heidelberg 5-3 and 15-0, and defending Division I champion Patch went on the road to down Ansbach 10-4, 9-0. All three broom-wielders improved to 12-0.

Kaiserslautern 10-11, AFNORTH 0-2: Saturday at K-town, Hawkins tossed a pair of two-hitters and lowered her season ERA to 0.88, according to an email submitted by K-town assistant Benjamin Quesada. Hawkins, who posted route-going five-inning stints in each game, struck out 11 batters in the opener and nine in the nightcap.

The Bonano sisters provided all the punch Hawkins needed in Game 1. Melissa Bonano drove in three runs with a pair of hits, and Michelle Bonano knocked in two to pin the defeat on AFNORTH’s Morgan Beal.

In Game 2, K-town rapped out 20 hits, Quesada reported, en route to some gaudy numbers – four-for-five by Reagan McCurn, three-for-three with two RBIs by Michelle Bonano; three-for-five, including an inside-the-park home run and a triple, with two RBIs by Saige Isla, and two-for-three outings by Jamie Phillips and Megan Schultz.

Rylee McKinney took the loss.

Next up for Kaiserslautern is a Friday doubleheader against visiting Ramstein with the Western Region title on the line.

Ashley Fowler swatted a two-run homer to deep left-center to account for the scoring for AFNORTH, which fell to 7-3. The Lions are scheduled to close their regular season Saturday in Baumholder.

Vilseck 5-15, Heidelberg 3-0: Friday at Heidelberg, Taylor Hall pitched a complete six-inning three-hitter in the opener, striking out 11 and walking seven; her senior teammate Deraj’ McClinton went the five-inning distance in the nightcap, allowing just two hits and striking out seven in a game called by the run rule.

The sweep, which Heidelberg coach Brenda Hoff attributed to Vilseck’s “aggressive” base-running and tight infield defense, left the Falcons 12-0 going into Saturday’s regular-season finale at unbeaten Patch.

Vilseck coach Jim Hall put some numbers to Hoff’s assessment in a Saturday phone call, when he reported three steals for Alex Lopez during a three-for-three effort in Game 1, and two steals and two hits for Nicole Wheat during the same contest. The Falcons made just one error in the contest.

Vilseck put away Game 2 with seven hits and 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning , Hall said. Hall, McClinton, Lopez, Wheat and Stephanie Leitold each stroked two hits for Vilseck in that contest.

Next up for Vilseck is the Eastern Region championship showdown Saturday at Patch. Heidelberg, which fell to 6-6, closes its regular season Saturday at Wiesbaden.

Patch 10-9, Ansbach 4-0: Saturday at Ansbach, the defending European D-I champs stayed perfect behind All-Europe sophomore pitcher Amber Marvin, who won both games and stroked a solo homer in the opener, according to Patch coach Brian Tingey.

Marvin struck out 15 Cougars in the nightcap, but was touched for two hits by Ansbach’s McKenzie Ellis. Marvin, with two perfect games under her belt this season, had previously allowed just two hits all season, according to Tingey.

Brittany Hyde went two-for-three for Patch.

Ansbach, next ticketed for the European Division II tournament May 24-26 at Ramstein-Kaiserslautern, concluded its regular season 1-11.

Lakenheath 20-12, SHAPE 5-8: Saturday at Lakenheath, Mariyah Rivera (four-for-four) and Erica Ripley (three-for-four with a triple) provided all the batting help winning pitcher Alli Midthun needed in the opener, according to Lancers’ coach Greg Thomas.

The sweep lifted Lakenheath, which is scheduled to close its regular season by hosting Alconbury on Saturday, to a 5-6 record. SHAPE, which is to entertain Bitburg on Saturday, fell to 2-6.

Migrated