Lady Red Foxes tame Wilson Lady Tigers
By Don Gearhart
An early season Regional matchup with a young Hartsville Red Foxes softball squad and the Lady Tigers from Wilson resulted in a 12-1 Hartsville victory.
EmmaKate Hudson led off for the visiting Lady Red Foxes with a ground single to left. After stealing second, Arianna Gainey laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Hudson to third. Myah Harvey was hit by a pitch and when a wild pitch occurred, Hudson scored and Harvey made it all the way to third. Another wild pitch caused Harvey to break for the plate but Wilson pitcher, Zoey Miller, made a great short-hop from the catcher and a quick tag to just nail Harvey slide before she reached the plate. Nonetheless, Hartsville took the first lead of the game. Miller, leading off for Wilson, hit a grounder that was deflected by Kymber Gainey in the circle for Hartsville, and dribbled in to “no man’s land” for an infield hit. Miller stole second, but was stranded at third after a fly out to right, a ground out to third, and a pop fly out to short.
Terriney Thompson led off the Lady Red Foxes second inning with a solid base hit. She advance to second on a wild pitch and one out later, stole third. Milly Starling walked and stole second ahead of Addy Wallace’s RBI ground out. Kymber Gainey’s grounder to short was misplayed allowing Starling to score. Hudson walked to put two runners aboard although they were stranded when a force out at third ended their scoring with Hartsville holding a 3-0 lead. Wilson’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the inning was safe on an error. While attempting to steal second, she was gunned down by an Arianna Gainey strike to Harvey covering the bag. A pop out to second and a strikeout ended Wilson’s turn at bat.
Harvey tripled to left center to lead off the Hartsville third inning. She scored on a sacrifice fly from Abbey Byrd who ended up safe when the fly was dropped. Thompson’s second hit moved Byrd to third with Thompson taking second on the throw from the outfield. Floyd got credited with an RBI when she laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored Byrd and moved Thompson to third. A strike out and foul out to the catcher ended the inning with the Lady Red Foxes now leading 5-0. Ashley Charles led off the Wilson third inning with a base hit. A walk to the next batter put two aboard. One out later, Martina Taylor’s base hit enabled Charles to score Wilson’s first run. Taylor, however, was caught too far off of first base when Kymber Gainey snared a line drive for the second out and tossed to Byrd at first for the double play to end the inning.
Kymber Gainey helped her cause with a leadoff hit to start the Hartsville fourth inning. Hudson got an RBI when her hit to right field eluded the fielder’s attempt at a shoestring catch. Hudson scored Hartsville’s seventh run on a wild pitch. After giving up a double to Lauren Sehnke, Kymber Gainey got a out on a comebacker to the mound, a strikeout, and a foul pop fly.
For the first time in the game, the leadoff hitter for either team did not safely reach base. That didn’t deter Mary Hickey who hit a long fly ball to left center that cleared the fence for a solo home run. With two outs, Kymber Gainey doubled and Hudson quickly brought her home with a solid line drive hit. Arianna Gainey’s base hit moved Hudson to third with Gainey taking second on the throw to third. Harvey drove in Hudson with a line single to left for the third run of the inning, but Gainey was thrown out at the plate on a strong throw from the outfield. With two outs in the Wilson fifth, Miller doubled. She was stranded there when Taylor’s fly to left was caught by Thompson. Hartsville had taken a 10-1 lead.
Byrd led off the Lady Red Foxes sixth hit a laser home run to right center. Thompson followed with a base hit and then Rylee Stephens lifted a base hit just beyond the infield reach. An out later, Raven Schaff hit a hard grounder to short that was misplayed allowing Thompson to score to make it 12-1. At that point, Wilson conceded the game.
Hartsville pounded out 14 hits with Hudson and Thompson leading the way with three each. Harvey and Kymber Gainey each collected two safeties for the Lady Red Foxes. Kymber Gainey gave up just one earned run on five hits. Although only striking out two batters, she only walked one and relied on a strong defense to limit the Lady Tigers.