Lady Indians earn 1st win of season; defeat Highland County foe Fairfield 

HILLSBORO — This has been a season of learning and gaining experience for the Hillsboro Lady Indians, and Friday night against a Highland County counterpart, the Fairfield Lady Lions, it was Hillsboro’s time to reap the rewards of battling all season long. 

For the first time in 2026, the Lady Indians left the softball diamond with a victory by defeating Fairfield, 9-2, as they continue to gain experience and rebuild their program after losing seven starters from last season's history-making squad. 

“It feels to get the first win of the season. It has been a process. The kids have worked really hard, we’ve been playing good, we just haven’t been putting things together, and we put it together tonight and it feels good,” HHS head coach Gary Breeden said. “The pressure … they have been talking over the past couple weeks about the past four or five years about the program and where it was as far as winning and things like that. I kept telling them we are a different team, and to keep working and it will come.”

On Friday the young Lady Indians got off to a strong start with one run in the bottom of the first and followed that with four runs in the bottom of the second inning for a 5-0 lead. The first inning for HHS saw Addley Miller hit a double to score Chloe Roberts. In the second inning, Blair Gard singled to centerfield, scoring Paisley Zink for a two-run lead. 

Then came a double hit by Roberts to knock in Rilynn Swisshelm and Leah Vance, increasing the Lady Indians' lead to four runs. The fifth HHS run was scored by Roberts, who was batted in with a double hit by Miller. 

“Everybody is just hitting the ball well, and everybody did their jobs well that inning,” Breeden said of the second inning. “We had a sacrifice in that inning that led to a run scoring, and that was a good team inning.” 

Fairfield answered with a run in the top of the third, but HHS answered with another two runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 7-1 lead. The fifth inning saw Fairfield score one run, but HHS answered with another two-run inning for the final 9-2 score. 

After a run scored by Fairfield’s Jorja May in the top of the third, it was Hillsboro’s Miller scoring on a passed ball and Peyton Spurlock scoring a run off a sacrifice fly hit by Emory Zornes and the six-run lead. 

Fairfield scored their final run in the top of the fifth with May scoring a run on an infield error. 

The Lady Indians added two final runs with Gard scoring off a ground out by Swisshelm, and Roberts crossed home plate on a double by Miller. 

FHS totaled four hits and had five errors, while the Lady Indians finished the game with 11 hits and three errors. 

Hillsboro saw Miller finish 3-for-4 with one run, three RBI and three doubles. 

Roberts was 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBI, a walk, two doubles and a steal. 

Zink was 2-for-4 with one run and a steal. Vance went 2-for-3 with one run and a double.

Spurlock was 1-for-4 with a run. Teammate Gard was 1-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Swisshelm scored a run, had one RBI and was hit by a pitch. Zornes finished with one RBI and a sacrifice fly. 

Spurlock was the winning pitcher as she went all seven innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. 

“Peyton pitched well tonight. She’s had some back issues, but she finally got healthy and is starting to see the fruits of her labor, and it is showing,” Breeden said. 

BOX SCORE
FHS    001 010 0 — 2 4 5
HHS    140 220 x — 9 11 3