LC tops Eastern, 10-8

Coming off a loss the previous day, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs rebounded in the biggest of ways … gaining a Southern Hills Athletic Conference win, this one over Eastern Brown by a 10-8 score.

The Lady Mustangs were led at the plate with home runs by junior Madysyn Creighton and freshman Hannah Binkley with a home run apiece.

In a fun fact about Binkley's home run, Lynchburg-Clay head coach Spring Roberts said she told the freshman to go hit a home run of her own since she gave up one earlier while pitching.

"When we came in to bat, Hannah was up first, and I jokingly said, 'Hey, you had one hit out on you, now it's your turn to hit one out. The next thing I knew, the ball sailed over the fence," Roberts said.

Binkley was a perfect 4-for-4 with the home run and a double. Binkley also pitched a good game, according to her head coach.

"Hannah pitched a fabulous game once again," Roberts said.

Creighton's home run came in the first inning, being the second batter to reach the bases after Lexi Waits reached safely on a walk. Creighton went 3-for-4 with the home run. Waits was 2-for-4.

"Waits is still hustling as usual," Roberts said of her catcher. "She was 1-for-2 throwing runners out, and after the second one, they backed off the stealing. She also had a nice catch behind the plate."

Eastern took an early 3-2 lead, but the Lady Mustangs didn't back down … in fact, they took on the challenge.

After the first inning, the Lady Mustangs didn't trail.

"Everyone hit, and that was a big change from Wednesday night," Roberts said, as LC didn't have a hit that day. "We worked hard in batting practice before the game Thursday, and it paid off this game."

Also for LC, Hayley McConnaughey went 3-for-4, and Brittany Allen was 2-for-4.

Megan Pointer had one hit, with one out call being really close.

"One call on her said she stepped behind the plate bunting on the left side," Roberts said. "I checked for the footprint, and I didn't see one, but I wasn't winning the call."

Shelby Chisman went 2-for-4 for the Lady Mustangs. Chelsi Hacker was 3-for-4 and as Roberts described, "a couple shots that fell in the glove."

"Some of the best swings and hits were from Chelsi (Thursday)," Roberts said.

Nikki Jones played a full game at the plate, gaining one hit.

"She had better confidence with her hitting," Roberts said of Jones.

The head coach also spoke about the LC defense.

"Our defense was solid as usual," she sad. "We had two errors compared to 12 in the previous game. We made a couple changes that I think worked very well for us.

"(Megan) Pointer is very quick, and she's played second base for us the last games. I switched her out with Chelsi (Hacker), who usually plays center, and moved Chelsi to second. Chelsi has played excellent for us in centerfield, but with her coming off a knee injury, she doesn't have the speed that Pointer has, and it worked out great."

Roberts continued to talk about the change in the defense.

"Megan caught some balls that were very iffy if she was going to be able to get to," Roberts said. "She made some catches that really changed the complexion of the game.

"I was proud of Chelsi and how she came into second and played very well. She turned a double play that I'm not sure LC hasn't seen in a long time."