Lady Hornets win district title
Ava Riggs and Ella House celebrate a play made in the field during the district title game at Brandenburg. In the background is Baylee Estes.
It took a few days to finish the game, but when it was over the Lady Hornets were crowned 11th District Softball Champions. Hancock County defeated Meade County 6-3 on Saturday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather at Brandenburg last Wednesday, May 22.
“This was a big win for us to beat Meade on their home field,” HCHS coach Dwayne Wroe said. “We weren’t real sharp Saturday, after graduation the night before, but the girls hung in there and found a way to get it done.”
The Lady Wave led first when they scored a run in the bottom of the first inning on a double by Hannah Carter. The Lady Hornets responded quickly in the second frame.
Ava Riggs took one for the team when she was hit by a wild pitch. Emmalynn Higdon moved Riggs to second base on a sacrifice and a single by Jordyn Waltrip brought home the run.
The HCHS defense got a charge when they recorded a 6-3-5 double play in the second. The third inning was big for the Lady Hornets as they plated five runs.
Baylee Estes led off with a hit and Audrey Carnes laid down a sacrifice bunt to more the runner. Ella House singled and Lily Roberts followed with an RBI hit.
Layni Roberts followed with a base on balls and a base hit by Riggs produced another run. Higdon then singled to right field and Audree Mosby, who was in as a courtesy runner, scored to make it 4-1.
Bella Bryant hit a ball that was misplayed by Meade and that allowed Riggs and courtesy runner Carolina Jones to cross home plate. When the dust settled the Lady Hornets led 6-1.
The game was postponed in the bottom of the third with one our and a runner on first base.
The game was joined in progress on Saturday and the base runner stole second and advanced to third on the throw. The batter was walked and Meade had runners at the corners.
A ground ball out scored a run to make the score 6-2 and a third run scored when a pitch got by the Lady Hornet catcher.
The Lady Wave had life, but they still trailed 6-3.
The Hancock offense went down 1-2-3 over the next two innings, but the defense held down the home team until the fifth.
A double by Kaelyn Ledford gave Meade a chance, but Lily Roberts took it away with strike outs to end the threat.
Ledford later led off the seventh with another double, but the Hancock defense did the job, recording three outs to secure the victory!
“We had three great defensive plays, by Ella House, Ava Riggs and Jordyn Waltrip. And Lily gutted it out and made pitches when she had to,” Wroe said.
Lily Roberts got the win on the mound. She allowed three runs on six hits, with 10 Ks and five walks over seven complete innings. Veronica Roberts took the loss for Meade County.
House was 2 for 4 at the plate for HCHS. Riggs and Higdon both went 1 for 2 with one RBI each, Waltrip was 1 for 3 with one RBI, Carnes was 1 for 3, Lily Roberts was 1 for 4 with one RBI, and Estes was 1 for 4.
Ledford was 2 for 3 to lead the Lady Wave.
By Steve Wimmer
