Photos by Kevin Nagle
By Bridget Bauer
Tori Hernandez makes a back-hand stab down the third-base line. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Fortunately, the Bryant Lady Hornets did what they were supposed to in a doubleheader Tuesday with the J.A. Fair Lady Eagles. Unfortunately, they didn’t get much competition.
In an agreement between both teams but suggested by Fair Coach Dennis Troutman, an inning would end after five runs were scored. Additionally, the run-rule is 15 runs after three innings. The Lady Hornets (7-3, 4-1 6A/7A-South) tallied the five runs in all innings and defeated Fair, 15-0, in three innings in both contests.
“Part of the One Pitch Warrior (a book) philosophy is you can’t control how fundamentally sound or unsound another team is,” Bryant Coach Debbie Clark said. “But, we can control us. We agreed on the five runs an inning and we did that and showed some aggressiveness.”
Katy Stillman (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
In both contests, Lady Eagle pitchers had trouble throwing strikes and keeping the ball in the area of the plate. In the first contest, the Lady Hornets recorded just four hits and were led by Breanna Sanders’ two-RBI double. Kaley Coppock added a two-run single and Tori Hernandez and Shayla McKissock also had one-base hits. However, Bryant tallied 10 of its runs on wild pitches and a passed ball.
“Usually with three balls and no strikes, I tell the girls to take the next pitch,” Clark said. “I gave them some freedom this game, and it showed their discipline. We ran the bases well. On passed balls, they were looking to see if they had a chance for more bases.”
In the second game, Bryant slapped eight hits and was paced by Coppock’s two-RBI single and run-scoring double. Sanders added two singles with the first one scoring two runs, Abby Staton doubled while Julie Ward, McKissock and Alex Taylor all contributed singles.
Staton picked up both pitching wins and gave up just two walks with both occurring in the first contest. She recorded a total of 15 strikeouts with seven in the first game and eight in the second matchup and struck out the side three times.
Abby Staton (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
“In One Pitch Warrior, it says you can’t give more than two freebies a game whether it is a walk or hit by a pitch,” Clark said. “I told her this was a good game for her to understand that. We needed her to throw, and she did that.”
Bryant continues conference play Thursday and travels to Sheridan.
