Thursday, September 21, 2023

South Harrison Cools Down Tiger Squad

South Harrison cooled down a red hot Worth County squad Thursday with a 3-0 win. After their win in the King City Tournament, the Tigers ran into a red hot Albany squad and lost 5-4. They took an early lead at Pattonsburg and had to cling by their fingernails against a dangerous Panther squad before pulling off the 8-6 win. Their next match was against King City. They had every right to expect a tough matchup against a Wildcat squad bent on revenge for the Tigers win on their home turf, but the Tiger bats came alive in a 9-1 win.

The Bulldogs just got their coach, Aaron Fitzpatrick, his 200th win against Gallatin in a matchup of area powerhouses, and they came in at 12-4. They got the first run of the game in the first when Hannah Carter got a seeing eye single between first and second and Kenley Burkhead (running for Carter) stole second. She came home on Bailey Barnett's single. 

Worth County was hitting the ball hard, but right at people in the second inning. In the second, with one out, Megan Norris turned on Brooklyn Richardson's change and singled to right. Emma Chamberlin singled as well and they took second and third on a wild pitch. Abbey Henry grounded out to score Norris and make it 2-0.

Tiger pitcher Brooklyn Richardson kept South Harrison off balance in the third and fourth innings, but so did Bulldog pitcher Hannah Carter, mixing in a change with her fastball. 

South Harrison added to their lead when Abbey Henry reached on an error. Lexi Hunter bunted, but pitcher Brooklyn Richardson made a great play by forcing Henry at second. Saige Bennett hit what looked like a routine single, but it caromed off the divot separating the grass from the dirt in left field, allowing Hunter to go first to third. Bennett took second on the throw to third. Hannah Carter grounded out to score Hunter to make it 3-0.

The Bulldogs brought their closer Abbey Henry to pitch the last two innings; she is much faster than Carter and speeds up the bats. But Kambree Briner swung at a third strike that got away, giving Worth County its best scoring chance of the night. Kristin Tracy singled to center, and they took second and third on a wild pitch. Kynah Steele hit a fly ball to right that looked deep enough to score Briner, but she was gunned down at the plate for a double play. 

Emma Eastin hit a shot off Richardson's glove in the sixth to lead off the South Harrison sixth, but Ambrey Hunter forced Lilly Wiley (running for Eastin) at second. Worth County then made a pair of outstanding defensive plays when center fielder Riley Ridge ran down Megan Norris' drive and left fielder Brylee Rush ran down Emma Chamberlin's drive with an over the shoulder catch. Worth County could not get anything back in the seventh as Rylee Ruckman's line drive with Brylee Rush on second was right at second baseman Kataya Sunderman for the final out.

The junior varsity also lost 7-4 as South Harrison broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the third. Becca Smith beat out an infield hit and Sumer Riley hit a screamer to right for a double to score her for the Tigers' first run. They bunched together three straight infield hits to score a run and Kambree Briner scored on a wild pitch in the second. Sumer Riley got her second hit a single to right, to score Addison Gray in the fifth. The game was delayed briefly in the fourth when a yellow cat ran on the field and three Tiger players, a South Harrison player, and one of the South Harrison coaches chased it all over right field before they finally got it off. 

The junior high lost 10-0.

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