Gilliland home run, Roberts’ 18 Ks lead Hillsboro past rival McClain
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — On a day where the temperature hovered around the mid-40s, the Hillsboro Lady Indians and McClain Lady Tigers battled at Alice Cassner Field in Frontier Athletic Conference action, in a game that was full of stellar pitching and only needed one run to cross home plate for the victory.
Hillsboro’s Kinsey Gilliland was the player who scored that run, as a first-inning home run was all the scoring the game had, eventually sending the host Lady Indians to a 1-0 FAC victory.
Both teams also each totaled three hits, meaning the Lady Indians’ and Lady Tigers’ pitching was stellar as well in the Thursday night showdown.
“I told my team in the second and third inning that one run wasn’t going to do it, then at the end of the game I had to tell them I was a liar and apologize,” HHS head coach Katie Moberly said with a laugh. “Gilliland came up with another big hit, and she’s been coming up with a few of those lately.”
For Hillsboro, the winning pitcher was Kayla Roberts, as she pitched the complete seven innings. In her 118 pitches, she allowed no runs on three hits and two walks, but struck out 18 of the 27 batters she face on the night. Roberts threw 14 first-pitch strikes to the batters she faced.
“Kayla had an awesome day,” Moberly said. “With cold hands (due to the weather on Thursday), you never know what you are going to get, but she really fought through, did exactly what she needed to do. Also (McClain’s) pitcher did a nice job and kept us off-balanced. We struggled to hit the ball hard.”
McClain’s hits came from Kerigan Pollard, as she was 1-for-2 with a walk; Josie Crabtree, who was 1-for-3; and Bri Weller, who finished 1-for-3. Kyndall Penwell drew a walk for McClain.
“We were just one hit away from probably winning the game,” MHS head coach Ed Bolender said. “We had runners on second and third one inning, and we had a runner on third a couple times, so we had four in scoring position. But a 1-0 game against Hillsboro … I told the kids to not hang their heads because Hillsboro is a quality team, a good team.
“It is what we thought it was going to be when we came here, and that is we knew we were going to have to play well, and I have no complaints with our kids. We played well defensively, made all the plays, but we just didn’t get that one key hit.”
The tough-luck loss went to Crabtree, as she pitched six innings, throwing a total of 60 pitches. She allowed one earned run on three hits and no walk, while striking out four batters. Crabtree faced a total of 20 batters, throwing first-pitch strikes to 15 batters.
“Josie has been that way all year,” Boldender said of his pitcher’s stellar performance. “She’s our rock in the circle. She pitched well enough to win this game, and I told her that. This was a great game between two good ball clubs.”
Hillsboro saw Gilliland finish 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI, while teammate Mallory Parsons was 1-for-2 and Abigail Pettyjohn went 1-for-2.
The Lady Indians left one runner on the bases, while McClain left six runners on the bases. HHS committed one error.
As for the home run by Gilliland, it came in the second at-bat of the game. With one out, Gilliland looked at the first strike across the plate, and then she fouled off the next pitch. From there, ball one was called, then came the home run that sailed over the left field fence on the 1-2 count.
McClain left runners stranded on this base in the top of the first, third and sixth innings. In the fourth inning, Weller hit a lead-off double off the centerfield fence but was left standing at second base.
“(McClain) has a way to get those runs across a lot of days, but we were able to keep them from doing that,” Moberly said. “Part of that was Roberts just focusing and to ending the inning, which is always good to see.”
The win improves the Lady Indians to 9-3 overall, as they are now 3-0 in the FAC. McClain drops to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the FAC.
Next for Hillsboro is a doubleheader on Saturday, April 17 at Blanchester in non-conference action. McClain will play again in a home doubleheader against River Valley Saturday.
“We are off to a nice start, and we’ve seen some good teams that have challenged us a couple different time, and we are not even halfway through the season,” Moberly said. “This league this season, you never know what you are going to get. Day in, day out different teams are surprising you, so you have to check the scoreboard every day because you don’t know what you are going to see.”
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Hillsboro’s Kinsey Gilliland was the player who scored that run, as a first-inning home run was all the scoring the game had, eventually sending the host Lady Indians to a 1-0 FAC victory.
Both teams also each totaled three hits, meaning the Lady Indians’ and Lady Tigers’ pitching was stellar as well in the Thursday night showdown.
“I told my team in the second and third inning that one run wasn’t going to do it, then at the end of the game I had to tell them I was a liar and apologize,” HHS head coach Katie Moberly said with a laugh. “Gilliland came up with another big hit, and she’s been coming up with a few of those lately.”
For Hillsboro, the winning pitcher was Kayla Roberts, as she pitched the complete seven innings. In her 118 pitches, she allowed no runs on three hits and two walks, but struck out 18 of the 27 batters she face on the night. Roberts threw 14 first-pitch strikes to the batters she faced.
“Kayla had an awesome day,” Moberly said. “With cold hands (due to the weather on Thursday), you never know what you are going to get, but she really fought through, did exactly what she needed to do. Also (McClain’s) pitcher did a nice job and kept us off-balanced. We struggled to hit the ball hard.”
McClain’s hits came from Kerigan Pollard, as she was 1-for-2 with a walk; Josie Crabtree, who was 1-for-3; and Bri Weller, who finished 1-for-3. Kyndall Penwell drew a walk for McClain.
“We were just one hit away from probably winning the game,” MHS head coach Ed Bolender said. “We had runners on second and third one inning, and we had a runner on third a couple times, so we had four in scoring position. But a 1-0 game against Hillsboro … I told the kids to not hang their heads because Hillsboro is a quality team, a good team.
“It is what we thought it was going to be when we came here, and that is we knew we were going to have to play well, and I have no complaints with our kids. We played well defensively, made all the plays, but we just didn’t get that one key hit.”
The tough-luck loss went to Crabtree, as she pitched six innings, throwing a total of 60 pitches. She allowed one earned run on three hits and no walk, while striking out four batters. Crabtree faced a total of 20 batters, throwing first-pitch strikes to 15 batters.
“Josie has been that way all year,” Boldender said of his pitcher’s stellar performance. “She’s our rock in the circle. She pitched well enough to win this game, and I told her that. This was a great game between two good ball clubs.”
Hillsboro saw Gilliland finish 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI, while teammate Mallory Parsons was 1-for-2 and Abigail Pettyjohn went 1-for-2.
The Lady Indians left one runner on the bases, while McClain left six runners on the bases. HHS committed one error.
As for the home run by Gilliland, it came in the second at-bat of the game. With one out, Gilliland looked at the first strike across the plate, and then she fouled off the next pitch. From there, ball one was called, then came the home run that sailed over the left field fence on the 1-2 count.
McClain left runners stranded on this base in the top of the first, third and sixth innings. In the fourth inning, Weller hit a lead-off double off the centerfield fence but was left standing at second base.
“(McClain) has a way to get those runs across a lot of days, but we were able to keep them from doing that,” Moberly said. “Part of that was Roberts just focusing and to ending the inning, which is always good to see.”
The win improves the Lady Indians to 9-3 overall, as they are now 3-0 in the FAC. McClain drops to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the FAC.
Next for Hillsboro is a doubleheader on Saturday, April 17 at Blanchester in non-conference action. McClain will play again in a home doubleheader against River Valley Saturday.
“We are off to a nice start, and we’ve seen some good teams that have challenged us a couple different time, and we are not even halfway through the season,” Moberly said. “This league this season, you never know what you are going to get. Day in, day out different teams are surprising you, so you have to check the scoreboard every day because you don’t know what you are going to see.”
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