Lady Hornets beat Catholic to win All “A” region title!
The HCHS Lady Hornets softball team poses with the championship trophy after winning the All “A” Classic 3rd Region Tournament at Whitesville Tuesday. Pictured in the front row are: Layni Roberts, Ella House, Kylie Westerfield, Emmalynn Higdon, Lily Roberts, Baylee Estes, Ava Riggs and Jordyn Waltrip. Standing: head coach Dwayne Wroe, coach Todd Keown, Ryleigh French, Ansley House, Madyson Higdon, Bella Bryant, Carolina Jones, Audrey Carnes, Aubree Mosby and coaches Lindsey Clark and Taylor Morris. Hancock County will compete in the All “A” state tournament in Owensboro on April 27.
The Lady Hornets showed what they were made of when they blanked Owensboro Catholic 8-0 in the championship game of the All “A” Classic 3rd Region Tournament Tuesday at Whitesville. Layni Roberts and Jordyn Waltrip blasted huge home runs and Lily Roberts pitched a complete game shutout.
Hancock County will advance to the All “A” state tourney to be played at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro on April 27-28.
HCHS coach Dwayne Wroe spoke about his team’s performance after the game.
“This is one of the most special wins I’ve had. We were down a couple of starters and I told them before the game that someone was going to step up, because that’s what good teams do. We had some girls do that and I couldn’t be more proud of this bunch.”
Roberts struck out the side in the first inning and Catholic’s Hannah Robbins was pitching well for the Lady Aces as there was no score through three frames.
Layni Roberts put the Lady Hornets on the scoreboard in the fourth with a monster 2-run shot that cleared the fence in center field. Carolina Jones also scored on the play as she was on as a courtesy runner for Lily Roberts, who led off the inning with a double.
“Layni got us going. When she came up and hit that homer it kind of relaxed us and gave us some breathing room,” Wroe said.
Baylee Estes led off the fifth frame with a triple, but Robbins battled out of trouble and left the speedy junior stranded at third.
The Lady Aces had their chance in the home half of the fifth when Hannah Tignor led off the inning with a double. But Lily Roberts had no intention of allowing a run to score as she set down the next three batters on strikes.
Hancock County wasn’t nearly finished offensively and Layni Roberts led off the sixth with a base hit. Emmalynn Higdon smacked a line drive to right field that set up more heroics from the Lady Hornets. Waltrip stepped to the plate and the 8th grader belted a 3-run home run to center field and the route was on.
“Jordyn had been struggling a little bit at the plate and I knew it was just a matter of time before she broke out of it. That was a big time hit for her tonight,” Wroe said.
Catholic went down 1-2-3 in the sixth and Hancock County added three more runs in the top of the seventh. Ella House singled before Layni Roberts ripped an RBI double. Madyson Higdon had a RBI and Aubree Mosby knocked in the final run with a base hit.
Lily then finished off the Lady Aces with a strike out to end the game.
Roberts allowed no runs on two hits, with 17 Ks and two walks over seven innings. Robbins went the distance and absorbed the loss for Catholic.
“We were a little bit worried because of the rain and field conditions and how that was going to be on her (Lily’s) knee. But she was a trooper and I can’t put into words how valuable she was out there on the mound tonight,” the coach said. “It was just a great performance by one of the top pitchers in the state. I’m glad she’s on our team.”
Layni Roberts was 3 for 3 with a double, home run and three RBI. Waltrip was 2 for 4 with the homer and three RBI, Estes was 1 for 3 with a triple, Lily Roberts (double), Emmalynn Higdon and Mosby were all 1 for 3, and House and Madyson Higdon both went 1 for 4.
Tignor was 2 for 2 for the Lady Aces.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been to All “A” state and I really wanted these seniors to experience that. It’s going to be good for these younger girls, too,” the coach said. “Hopefully we’ll make some noise and bring home a big trophy.”
Three HCHS girls made the All “A” regional All-Tournament Team and one made Academic all- tourney. They are Jordyn Waltrip, Layni Roberts, Lily Roberts and Kylie Westerfield. A photo of these girls will be published in next week’s Clarion.
Trinity
The Lady Hornets advanced to the finals of the All “A” regional with a 5-0 win over Trinity at Whitesville Monday.
Hancock County took a one run lead in the second inning when Layni Roberts scored on an error. The game remained close until Ava Riggs delivered a 2-run triple in the fourth.
HCHS center fielder Kylie Westerfield was injured when a pitch struck her hand while at the plate. The senior suffered a clean break and her availability going forward is unknown.
Audrey Carnes and Emmalynn Higdon gave the girls some extra breathing room with RBI hits in the sixth while pitcher Lily Roberts and the HCHS defense took care of business.
Roberts allowed no runs on four hits with 14 Ks and two walks over seven innings for the win. Sophia Hatfield took the loss for Trinity.
Carnes was 2 for 2 at the plate with one RBI, Riggs was 1 for 3 with the triple and two RBI, Higdon was 1 for 3 with a double and one RBI, Layni Roberts, Lily Roberts and Ella House all went 1 for 3.
Madison McDaniel had three hits for Trinity.
By Steve Wimmer
