Lady Hornets 2nd at Marshall tourney
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MARSHALL, Texas — The Bryant Lady Hornets softball team suffered their first loss of the season, 2-0, to Huntington, Texas, in the finals of a tournament in Marshall, Texas on Friday, Feb. 23.
The Lady Hornets had defeated Southwood, Texas, 4-3, in the semifinals to get to the title game after knocking out West Ouachita, La., in the quarterfinals, 2-1.
To reach the championship round of the event, the Lady Hornets had won two games and tied another in pool play on Thursday, Feb. 22. They blasted Jefferson, Texas, 11-0, then edged Shreveport, La., Captain Shreve, 6-4. They had a 5-0 lead in a third game against the host team, the Marshall Mavericks, but a two-out error kept the game going and Marshall rallied for the tie.
Prior to the trip to Marshall, the Lady Hornets notched their second regular-season victory, 1-0, over the Sheridan Lady Jackets on Monday, Feb. 19.
“We’ve played a lot of games in two weeks,” noted Lady Hornets coach Lisa Dreher. “The competition was very solid. I think the tournament was good for us to get our season started. It helped me see what we needed to work on as well.”
Hailey King returned to the Bryant lineup after missing practices and the season opener against Benton due to a broken thumb. She, Tyler Cox and Randie Juliusson were named to the all-tournament team at Marshall. King was 8 for 10 at the plate on the first day of the event and wound up hitting .550 in the six games. Christen Kirchner hit .389 and Cox, who pitched in two of the victories, the tie and the final, also smacked a pair of over-the-fence home runs while hitting .250.
In the finale, King, Dorsey and Laci Rowland managed hits. Against Southwood, Cox struck out 13 batters. Kirchner pitched seven innings in the win over West Ouachita.
In pool play, Cox struck out nine in the win over Captain Shreve and Allison Poteet fired a no-hitter in the opener against Jefferson.
In the win over Sheridan on Monday, Cox struck out 10, walked five and allowed just two hits.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when King singled with one out. Kirchner followed with a base hit and when Cox did the same, King tried to score only to be throw out at home. Kirchner and Cox wound up at second and third. After Kristen Morehart come on to run for Cox, Juliusson ripped a single to drive in the game’s only run.
In the top of the seventh, Cox issued a pair of walks with two down but Sarah Hart snagged a liner to second to end the game.
“We have to learn to take each game one at a time and play them all the same,” Dreher said. “We’ll have to have more girls step up offensively if we’re going to succeed this year.”
Cox and Kirchner each had two hits in the game. King, Juliusson and Poteet had base hits as well.
The Lady Hornets were scheduled to return to action at home on Tuesday, Feb. 27, against Central Arkansas Christian.
