Cudd pitches in for Lady Hornets
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With junior pitcher Christen Kirchner unavailable, freshman Jessica Cudd stepped in and pitched a complete game, allowing just two hits as the Bryant Lady Hornets notched a 10-3 win over the Pine Bluff Fillies in 7A-Central Conference play on Monday, April 14.
“I am really proud of Jessica,” stated Lady Hornets head coach Lisa Dreher. “She was hitting her spots well and never let up.”
Cudd struck out nine along the way.
“Christen’s grandmother passed away,” Dreher explained. “We have had a lot of misfortune off the field this year. I’m proud of the way our girls are able to pull together and support each other. As a coach, I take pride in knowing my players are able to realize what is really important when we have to face tough times.”
Paige Turpin led the offensive effort with two hits and five runs batted in. The Lady Hornets took advantage of four walks in the second inning to claim a 4-0 lead. Pine Bluff cut it to 4-2 in the fourth. After the Lady Hornets tacked on a run in the bottom of the inning, the Fillies pushed a run across in the fifth. But that’s all they managed.
The Lady Hornets added two in the bottom of the fifth keyed by hits from Cudd and Mo McDaniel. In the sixth, they put the game away with Turpin, Sarah Hart and Kim Wilson coming through with hits.
Lindsey Cason, Shanika Johnson and Bonnie Stroud each had hits in the game as well. Stroud, Johnson and Cason each scored twice. Hart, Cudd, Cason, Johnson and McDaniel knocked in a run apiece.
“We made several base-running mistakes that were costly early on,” Dreher mentioned. “I don’t want to make excuses for the girls because they know better, but having not been in a lot of live situations in the last month has been difficult. We make mental mistakes that we don’t normally.”
The game was just the Lady Hornets’ second since March 13 and it’d been a week since their only previous game during that span.
