Lady Lions win 23rd straight SHL game, top RHS
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
RIPLEY — The Fairfield Lady Lions traveled to Ripley and extended their Southern Hills League winning streak to 23 games, defeating the Ripley Lady Blue Jays 18-3, Tuesday.
The FHS offense continued to fire on all cylinders, pounding out 17 hits.
Whitney Hanenkrat also continued to swing a hot bat as she collected four hits (4-for-5) on the afternoon while driving in three runs and scoring three runs.
Four freshmen contributed to the Lady Lion hit parade, with Kaitlin Evans hitting her first career varsity home run in the first inning. Justice Hattan had two singles for her first varsity hits, driving in four runs. Lizzie Jones had a triple to record her first varsity hit, and Cheyenne Allen singled in the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, senior Lauren Larrick allowed six hits, three runs (none earned), no walks and 11 strikeouts in the circle for the win.
FHS (14-5, 11-0 SHL) again got off the bus swinging, with Evans (batting second in the order) hitting a solo home run over the right fielder's head to give the Lady Lions the early lead. Evans' home run was the Lady Lions’ fourth first-inning home run of the season. She finished 2-for-3 with three runs and one RBI.
Hanenkrat followed with a single up the middle, and Larrick (2-for-3, double, one run) singled down the left field line. Sirenity Smith reached first on a dropped third strike to load the bases. Halie Chain grounded to the right side to drive in a run, and Cynnamon Sova-Davy walked with the bases loaded to force in a run. Hattan’s infield fly batted in a run to give the Lady Lions the early 4-0 lead. Hattan finished 2-for-4, two runs and four RBIs.
The Lady Blue Jays (8-6, 6-5 SHL) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single to left field.
[[In-content Ad]]FHS answered with two more runs in the top of the second inning. Evans got things started with an infield single to the hole on the left side of the infield, then stole second base. Hanenkrat singled to centerfield to drive in Evans, then moved to third on Larrick’s double down the right field line. Smith, again, grounded to the right side of the infield to drive in Hanenkrat.
RHS scored two more unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 6-3. The Lady Lions again answered, this time scoring six runs in the top of the third inning on six hits, including a double off the bat of Chain and a triple to right field by Jones.
The Lady Lions completed the scoring with two runs in the top of the fourth inning and four runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Also for FHS, Courtney Huff finished 3-for-5, with three runs and two RBIs.
FHS now will play in a game of first-place teams in the SHL on Thursday with the Lady Lions (first-place in Division II of the SHL) against Division I first-place Eastern Brown at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Both teams faced each other early in the season, with Eastern earning a 1-0 nine-inning victory in a non-league game.
BOX SCORE
FHS 426 240 0 — 18 17 4
RHS 120 000 0 — 3 6 4
The FHS offense continued to fire on all cylinders, pounding out 17 hits.
Whitney Hanenkrat also continued to swing a hot bat as she collected four hits (4-for-5) on the afternoon while driving in three runs and scoring three runs.
Four freshmen contributed to the Lady Lion hit parade, with Kaitlin Evans hitting her first career varsity home run in the first inning. Justice Hattan had two singles for her first varsity hits, driving in four runs. Lizzie Jones had a triple to record her first varsity hit, and Cheyenne Allen singled in the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, senior Lauren Larrick allowed six hits, three runs (none earned), no walks and 11 strikeouts in the circle for the win.
FHS (14-5, 11-0 SHL) again got off the bus swinging, with Evans (batting second in the order) hitting a solo home run over the right fielder's head to give the Lady Lions the early lead. Evans' home run was the Lady Lions’ fourth first-inning home run of the season. She finished 2-for-3 with three runs and one RBI.
Hanenkrat followed with a single up the middle, and Larrick (2-for-3, double, one run) singled down the left field line. Sirenity Smith reached first on a dropped third strike to load the bases. Halie Chain grounded to the right side to drive in a run, and Cynnamon Sova-Davy walked with the bases loaded to force in a run. Hattan’s infield fly batted in a run to give the Lady Lions the early 4-0 lead. Hattan finished 2-for-4, two runs and four RBIs.
The Lady Blue Jays (8-6, 6-5 SHL) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single to left field.
[[In-content Ad]]FHS answered with two more runs in the top of the second inning. Evans got things started with an infield single to the hole on the left side of the infield, then stole second base. Hanenkrat singled to centerfield to drive in Evans, then moved to third on Larrick’s double down the right field line. Smith, again, grounded to the right side of the infield to drive in Hanenkrat.
RHS scored two more unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 6-3. The Lady Lions again answered, this time scoring six runs in the top of the third inning on six hits, including a double off the bat of Chain and a triple to right field by Jones.
The Lady Lions completed the scoring with two runs in the top of the fourth inning and four runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Also for FHS, Courtney Huff finished 3-for-5, with three runs and two RBIs.
FHS now will play in a game of first-place teams in the SHL on Thursday with the Lady Lions (first-place in Division II of the SHL) against Division I first-place Eastern Brown at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Both teams faced each other early in the season, with Eastern earning a 1-0 nine-inning victory in a non-league game.
BOX SCORE
FHS 426 240 0 — 18 17 4
RHS 120 000 0 — 3 6 4