HCHS Girls sweep doubleheader, fall to Butler in home run fest

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The Lady Hornets swept both games of a doubleheader at Oldham County High School in LaGrange Saturday. Ella Staples hit home runs in each game. “These were good wins,” HCHS coach Dwayne Wroe said. “Oldham is ranked in the top 20 in the state and New Albany beat them in the first game of the day.– and we beat them both.”

Game 1
Staples belted a homer and Ella House had two extra base hits as Hancock County won 6-3 over host Oldham County in game one.
Kylie Westerfield singled and scored on a hit by House in the first inning and the girls were off and running. Staples’ solo homer came in the third and House followed later with an RBI double. The Lady Colonels leadoff hitter smacked a home run in the same frame and Oldham County later added two more runs and tied the score at 3-3.

The contest remained knotted until the seventh.
House tripled with one out and Layni Roberts bunted for a single. House was held at third base. Emmalynn Higdon then came up big for Hancock when her line drive found open space and both House and Roberts scored to give the Lady Hornets a 5-3 advantage. Baylee Estes added an
insurance run with an RBI single. “We got some clutch hits to win this one,” Wroe said.

Lily Roberts was on the mound and was one out away when she went down with a possible leg injury. Gracie Gaynor ended the game with a strike out. Roberts got the win while allowing three runs on six hits, with 12 Ks and five walks over 6.2 innings. Gaynor struck out the only batter she faced.
House was 3 for 3 at the plate with a 3B, 2B and two RBI. Higdon was 2 for 4 with a 2B and two RBI, Estes was 3 for 5 with one RBI, Breze Riley was 2 for 4 with a 2B, Westerfield, Lily Roberts and Layni Roberts all went 1 for 3, Staples was 1 for 4 with the HR and Gaynor was 1 for 4.

Lily’s injury
Lily Roberts’ leg issue may not be serious as reports suggest that ligaments are intact. She will sit out one week then be reevaluated. Roberts currently leads the state in strike outs with 220.Game 2
The Lady Hornets scored seven runs in the first inning then held on to win by a final score of 12-8 over New Albany in the second game of the doubleheader at LaGrange Saturday. Oddly, all seven first inning runs were scored with two outs in a wild start to the game that included a
player reaching base on a dropped third strike, a hit batsman, six walks and two base hits. Gaynor knocked in two runs on a line drive to left field and Westerfield had an RBI single during the frame.

The Lady Bulldogs scored twice in the bottom of the first to make the score 7-2. Staples came to the plate with the sacks full in the fifth inning and the senior delivered a line drive to left field that cleared the bases. New Albany plated for runs in the same frame and the score was 10-6. The Lady Bulldogs got closer (10-8) when they cashed in two more runs in the sixth.

Staples gave HCHS some breathing room when she smacked a 2-run shot to center field in the seventh. House secured the final out in the home half of the inning with a catch at second base. Gaynor got the win on the mound while allowing seven runs on 13 hits, with one K and five walks over 6.2 innings. Jordyn Waltrip allowed one run on no hits, with one walk in 0.1 frames.

Staples was 2 for 4 at the plate with the HR, 2B and six RBI. Estes was 2 for 3 with one RBI and three runs scored, Gaynor was 1 for 4 with two RBI, Emmalynn Higdon was 1 for 4 and Westerfield
was 1 for 5 with one RBI. Raylee Higdon was 0 for 2 with one RBI and two runs scored while House
and Layni Roberts scored one run each.

Butler County
Butler County came from behind with two 3-run home runs in the fifth inning and went on to win by a final score of 13-9 over the Lady Hornets here Monday.

Emmalynn Higdon picked up where she left off Saturday with a line drive to left field that plated two runs in the first inning. Butler’s Addison Miller answered with a 2-run double in the second and the score was tied. Westerfield singled and scored on a hit by Staples that put HCHS back ahead 3-2 in the third. The offense was just getting started and a grounder by Higdon plated another run. Layni Roberts, Gaynor, Ava Riggs and Estes all followed with RBIs and Hancock led 8-2.
Four straight hits by the Lady Bears in the fourth plated three runs and pulled the visitors to within three runs (8-5).

Staples continued her home run tear with a solo shot to center field in the home half of the fourth that gave the Lady Hornets a 9-5 advantage.
Miller closed the gap to one run when her 3-run homer cleared the left field fence. Three batters later it was Madison Clark’s turn and another shot over the left field barrier put the visitors ahead 11-9. Miller added a 2-run homer in the sixth and Hancock County went down on a double-play in the
seventh.

Gaynor took the loss on the mound while allowing 10 runs (eight earned) on 12 hits, with five Ks and four walks over 5.1 innings. Waltrip allowed three runs on two hits, with one walk in 1.2 frames of relief. Staples was 2 for 3 with the homer and two RBI and Higdon was 2 for 4 with a double and three RBI.

House was 2 for 4, Westerfield and Riley both went 1 for 3 and Layni Roberts and Estes were both 1 for 4 with one RBI each. Gaynor and Riggs had one RBI each. Miller was 3 for 3 with two home runs, a double and seven RBI.

By Steve Wimmer