Hornets edge FRA on day softballs fly out of park

Home runs flew out of Westfield’s softball park at what had to be an unprecedented rate Saturday, but it was a good day overall for the Hornets of coach Kyle Davis with two victories in a round-robin series.

The day’s captivating contest started things out, and in the bottom of the eighth inning pitcher Sydney Barker drove home the winning run of a 5-4 final against a GISA Class AA favorite, Flint River Academy of Woodbury.

Hannah Livingston scored the winning run despite sporting a bruise on one of her legs from a run scored earlier in the contest.

In the game, Hannah Edwards – back playing the outfield from third base – homered for Westfield. But so did Meghan Gregg of Flint River, a left-handed hitting shortstop who has committed to the University of Tennessee. It was Gregg’s first-pitch long ball with a Wildcat teammate on base that tied the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning.

Because of Gregg’s presence in the lineup, Westfield had an incident later in the game that could only be described as an error that actually benefitted the defense.

The game stayed tied 3-3 even though the Hornets had two hits from Chelsea Whaley and Laura Johnson in the bottom of the sixth.

It was in the top of the seventh, with one out, that Flint River’s No. 9 batter bunted her way on base. The Hornet defense mishandled the softball leaving an opening for the Wildcats to get this lead run into scoring position.

But that also left first base open when Gregg batted for the first time since circling the bags. Barker did not throw a pitch close to the strike zone, but that did bring up another strong hitter in catcher Mary Stewart, owner of a deep double for an RBI in the third inning.

Stewart singled up the middle, but centerfielder Jenni McDaniel unleashed such a strong throw that Flint River held its runner on third base. With the bags loaded, Barker got a mile-high pop-up in the infield and her eighth strikeout.

Flint River had a chance, with a runner on second base and two outs, to put leadoff hitter Callie Hammerle on and face Livingston, who was taken out after her first run but eventually re-entered. Instead, Hammerle would fly out to left to end the seventh, but she was guaranteed to be standing on second base when her team hit in the eighth due to the international tie-breaker rule.

Westfield first had to get through the top of the eighth with Leah Stewart on second. The Wildcats loaded the bases with one out and got a fly ball deep in left enough to bring in the lead run at 4-3.

Barker ended up with nine strikeouts and 10 hits allowed. The free pass given to Gregg was the only one she issued.

At the plate in the home eighth, Livingston bunted the first pitch she saw and reached base. With one out, she and Hammerle were in scoring position; Johnson drew a walk, ball four getting away for Hammerle to tie the score. Livingston moved to third, and slid home without a throw after Barker put the first pitch in play.

Edwards’ home run went to dead centerfield and scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning.

In the top of the third, Gregg earned a hustle double and scored on Mary Stewart’s two-bagger. The Hornets got that run back for a 3-1 lead in the home half as Livingston scored on Whaley’s double to deep center.

Hammerle, Davis’ catcher, completed a double play in the Wildcat fourth throwing out a basestealer after Barker’s whiff.

• Later on Saturday, Johnson belted a grand slam for Westfield in the fifth inning against John Milledge Academy. That broke open a 2-1 game, one the Hornets would end in six at 9-1.

Kate Giddens accounted for the only run by the Trojans, playing as the home team on the scoreboard. She led off the bottom of the first with a home run.

Afterwards, Barker gave up four more hits, walked three and fanned six. Defensively, it was another big game behind the plate for Hammerle, who ran down a foul ball by Giddens for a catch by the JMA dugout.

Hammerle also beat out a throw by Giddens, the shortstop, in the top of the third. She later scored the tying run on a wild pitch. Westfield went ahead 2-1 the hard way when Brooke Knowles, playing third base, was hit on the helmet by a pitch with the bases loaded.

That was the fourth inning. Hammerle led off the fifth with a single, and McDaniel bunted her way on base. Whaley also singled via the bunt, and Johnson drove all in plus herself going deep.

Johnson’s RBI total was five as she doubled in one of three scored by the Hornets in the top of the sixth. Other RBI went to Whaley and Barker on hits, and Hammerle had her third safety.

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