Thursday, October 1, 2020

Kami Gibson, Emma Craig Go Deep; Shamrocks are HDC Champions with 56th Straight Conference Win

North Harrison wrapped up their conference schedule by getting their 56th straight conference win and clinching another conference title Thursday, beating Winston 14-0. The Shamrocks thought they had won 49 straight following the end of the 2019 season, but some checking revealed a game with Mercer that hadn’t gotten posted on the MSHSAA site, putting North Harrison at 50 wins at the start of the season.

Following their home tournament, in which they went 2-1, beating Worth County and Princeton and losing to Lawson, they hit a slump against Albany, falling 7-1 Monday. They were hitting the ball hard, but right at people, while everything Albany hit hard found a gap in that game.

They got back on track Tuesday with a 10-0 win over Mercer, setting up Thursday’s game. Winston is much better this year, fielding the ball much better; they only had one error in Thursday’s game. There was a stiff wind blowing in. But the Shamrocks were hitting the ball like the wind wasn’t even there, as Kami Gibson hit a home run and nearly missed another, Emma Craig narrowly missed the cycle, and Carly Rinehart scattered two hits and struck out ten. Rinehart’s rising fastball was working Thursday night as the red shirts were chasing her high pitches all night long.

In the first inning, with one out, Carly Rinehart singled to left and Emma Craig crushed one into the wind off the left center field wall and Rainey Fordyce walked. Camden Castleberry grounded into a force at second, scoring Natalie Parkhurst (running for Rinehart). Kami Gibson crushed one off the left field wall to score two and make it 3-0. 

That was simply the warmup for the rest of the game. Trendi Johnson came out of a hitting slump in a big way, hitting one as hard as she had ever hit as a Shamrock and landing it just fair down the left field line for a double to start the third. Carly Rinehart singled her home, and then Emma Craig crushed a two run home run into the wind to make it 6-0. 

In the fourth, Jayliegh Robins tripled off the wall in right center and Carly Rinehart grounded out to get her home. Emma Craig tripled to the wall in left, flying around the bases. Rainey Fordyce singled to center and Kami Gibson crushed one into the wind, and it didn’t matter as it flew over the fence in right field for an opposite field home run to make it 10-0.

Ruby Heintz, who had a double earlier in the game, crushed a triple when the right fielder tried for a great catch and missed. Trendi Johnson grounded out to score her; she was hitting it hard all evening. The green shirts continued to play pepper with the wall despite the wind as Jayliegh Robins doubled to the right center wall. Carly Rinehart singled and made it to second and made it to second when the cutoff throw got away. Emma Craig had a chance to complete the cycle, but drew a walk instead to load the bases. Rainey Fordyce got a base hit that turned into a bad hop double as two runs scored, and Camden Castleberry singled to left to score one.


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