Shannon Correa, a junior at Stuttgart, tosses a pitch during a no-hit shutout against Vilseck in Division I softball on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Vilseck, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
VILSECK, Germany – Shannon Correa traded her spot behind the plate for the pitcher’s mound when she arrived in Germany from Hawaii four years ago.
Friday, the junior hurler from Stuttgart led her team with a no-hitter in the first of two resounding victories against a young and inexperienced Vilseck squad.
“It feels really good,” she said after the Panthers finished off the Falcons 23-0 in four innings in the initial contest. “I felt really, really, nervous, but I know that if I get out of my head, then I do fine. I just have to focus on my mechanics.”
Correa aggressively pounded the ball into her glove between pitches on her way to eight strikeouts, allowing just four total baserunners.
The Panthers also won the second game 17-1 in three innings.
The matchup Friday was a tale of two teams with vastly different fortunes. Stuttgart rolled into town on a four-game winning streak in DODEA-Europe Division I. Its only losses of the season came in the first two games against undefeated Ramstein.
Vilseck, which lost a lot of players from last year’s third-place team to graduation and PCS moves, has only one victory thus far, and none in the division.
Stuttgart’s Jaylee Brown stands in against Vilseck pitching in the second game of a doubleheader on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Vilseck, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Shannon Correa, a junior at Stuttgart, winds up and prepares to throw during a no-hit performance against Vilseck in Division I softball on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Vilseck, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
In the first game, the Panthers smothered Vilseck hitters behind Correa’s velocity and pinpoint accuracy. Stuttgart’s Jaylee Brown and Taryn Lockhart recorded three hits each. Lockhart had an RBI single and triple batting around in the fourth inning.
Vilseck’s Julissa Neal put up a valiant performance on the mound, but the Falcons were hampered by errant throws and passed balls.
In the second game, Lockhart faced off against Vilseck’s Alisia Andrew. The Panthers put up 16 runs in the bottom of the first.
Slick-fielding shortstop Serenity Sampson had three RBI in that inning with an inside-the-park homer over the centerfielder’s head and a triple.
Despite being behind by a considerable margin, Vilseck matched Stuttgart’s energy with chants and songs of their own. With the bases loaded in the second, Katelynn McMillan beat out an infield roller and an error to plate Vilseck’s only run of the day.
Ava Bentley added a hit on a blooper over the third baseman’s head in the top of the third to take away Lockhart’s no-hitter. Then the game was called.
“Our team is all about our fighting spirit,” Bentley said.
Coach Cathleen Burgess credited her team for not giving up.
“We’re getting better every week,” she said.
Stuttgart senior Madi Heivly and first-year coach Kelli Weinreich credited an overnight team-building event before the start of the season for the squad’s cohesion, which has translated to results on the field.
“We’re excited to rematch Ramstein at Euros,” Weinreich said. “I think if we had played them later in the season, the outcome could have been a little bit different.”
