Hillsboro Lady Indians defeat rival McClain
Lead Summary
By
Jim Jones-
GREENFIELD — The Hillsboro Lady Indians varsity softball team improved to 11-4 overall and remained unbeaten in the Frontier Athletic Conference at 6-0 after a convincing 15-0 shutout over McClain on Daryle Unger Field in Greenfield Thursday night.
Hillsboro junior hurler Kayla Roberts pitched the complete-game (five-inning) shutout, giving up just two hits while striking out 11 Lady Tiger batters.
“Kayla (Roberts) threw the ball well tonight after pitching a nice ballgame last night at Jackson,” Hillsboro head coach Gary Breeden said after the game. “She continued pitching in this game the way she left off in that one.
“I think our girls are really coming together now and playing very well. We’ve changed our overall mentality a lot, and our girls have really bought into what we’re doing and it’s starting to show. We’re really starting to peak at just the right time of the season.”
The Lady Indians scored two runs in the top of the first, which were all the runs they would really need in the game due to the way Roberts pitched on the day. Roberts and Kinsey Gilliland both singled and scored for Hillsboro in that opening frame.
Kenzi Wise led off the bottom of the first with a double but was left stranded after Roberts struck out the next three McClain batters.
Hillsboro added four more runs in the top of the second on five hits with the big blow coming off the bat of freshman Cam Spruell, a two-run homer to left field scoring Roberts, who had doubled.
The Lady Indians added two more runs in the third on three hits and scored six more times in the fifth on five hits to close out the scoring in the ballgame.
“This was a game that showed the difference of where both our teams are right now,” said McClain head coach Ed Bolender. “Hillsboro is a veteran group with three or four players already signed to play at the college level, and we’re very young and very inexperienced at the varsity level.
“It seems like everyone we play has a lot more experience than we do. Last year we had 10 seniors with lots of varsity experience, and that’s kind of where Hillsboro is right now.”
Hillsboro junior hurler Kayla Roberts pitched the complete-game (five-inning) shutout, giving up just two hits while striking out 11 Lady Tiger batters.
“Kayla (Roberts) threw the ball well tonight after pitching a nice ballgame last night at Jackson,” Hillsboro head coach Gary Breeden said after the game. “She continued pitching in this game the way she left off in that one.
“I think our girls are really coming together now and playing very well. We’ve changed our overall mentality a lot, and our girls have really bought into what we’re doing and it’s starting to show. We’re really starting to peak at just the right time of the season.”
The Lady Indians scored two runs in the top of the first, which were all the runs they would really need in the game due to the way Roberts pitched on the day. Roberts and Kinsey Gilliland both singled and scored for Hillsboro in that opening frame.
Kenzi Wise led off the bottom of the first with a double but was left stranded after Roberts struck out the next three McClain batters.
Hillsboro added four more runs in the top of the second on five hits with the big blow coming off the bat of freshman Cam Spruell, a two-run homer to left field scoring Roberts, who had doubled.
The Lady Indians added two more runs in the third on three hits and scored six more times in the fifth on five hits to close out the scoring in the ballgame.
“This was a game that showed the difference of where both our teams are right now,” said McClain head coach Ed Bolender. “Hillsboro is a veteran group with three or four players already signed to play at the college level, and we’re very young and very inexperienced at the varsity level.
“It seems like everyone we play has a lot more experience than we do. Last year we had 10 seniors with lots of varsity experience, and that’s kind of where Hillsboro is right now.”