Wayne High’s fast-pitch softball team continues to schedule games at a furious pace.

The Lady Bulldogs recently played eight games in six days, including four games in a single day at the Macomb Tournament.

Megan Moreno’s team opened tournament play Augustst 29 with a 12-0 win over Gans, a 9-2 victory over LeFlore, a 7-3 loss to Coleman and a 12-1 win over Weleetka.

The three wins were good enough for third place and landed standouts Natalie Knobloch and Maddie Moreno on the All-Tournament Team.

“It was brutally hot,” Megan Moreno said.

Knobloch and Maddie Moreno did not allow a hit or a walk against Gans and combined for nine strikeouts — seven by Knobloch — in three innings.

Moreno had two hits, including a 2-run triple, and nine strikeouts in four innings of work against LeFlore. In the win over Weleetka, Audra Watts hit a bases-clearing triple to highlight a 10-run first inning.

“Our pitching has been pretty good,” coach Moreno said. “Natalie has carried most of the weight this season. She has pitched 57 innings with 61 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA.”

Maddie Moreno, who batted .700 in four tournament games, has added 37 strikeouts in 28 innings of work in the circle.

Two days after the McComb Tournament, a depleted Wayne hosted Wynnewood and Pauls Valley on August 31 and didn’t fare quite as well, losing 8-5 to Wynnewood and 4-0 to Pauls Valley, the first time Moreno’s team has been shut out this season.

“I’m pretty sure the girls were exhausted from the weekend,” Moreno said. “We didn’t play well in any aspects of (either) game.”

A 5-4 conference win at Velma-Alma on September 1 and a 10-0 conference win at Empire on Septembermber 3 followed, giving the Lady Bulldogs (14-7-1) five wins and three losses between August 29 and September 3.

Against Velma-Alma, Addison Clagg doubled and scored three runs, and Knobloch withstood a seventh-inning comeback attempt to secure the win.

The Lady Comets scored twice, including a steal of home to pull within a run, but Knobloch struck out the next batter to end it.

Watts hit a grand slam in the five-inning win over Empire, and Knobloch didn’t allow a run with six strikeouts.

“Now the girls are getting a much-deserved break,” Moreno said. “It’s a lot of games. We are just now getting into the second half of our season.”

Wayne is currently ranked No. 30 in Class A, up six spots from the previous week, Moreno said. Eight of the team’s nine starters are batting higher than .300, she said.

“Another ranking will come out (September 7). Wherever we land will solidify where we go for playoffs,” she added.

The road gets tough for Wayne starting Tuesday with a “difficult” conference game at Rush Springs followed by the Sterling Shootout September 10-12.

The tournament will feature “most Top 20 teams in our class,” according to Moreno.