S

The Huntland High School Lady Hornets beat the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs 15-4 at home Monday for their fourth win of the season.

The Lady Hornets put up 10 runs in the first inning alone and cruised to a victory from there as they wrapped up the district contest in five innings.

Huntland head softball coach Michael Tipps said that the early moments of the game were paramount as his team quickly responded to a deficit created in the top of the first and took control from there.

“We’re going to get everybody’s best game in the district, and I thought the girls responded well. We had a few walks, but for the most part, we were hitting the ball pretty solidly in that first inning,” he said. “That’ll go a long way later on down the road.”

Cornersville’s first three batters recorded hits and all came around to score to give the Lady Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first.

The Lady Hornets answered back immediately in the bottom half of the first as Bailey Morris walked, Ashtyn Danley reached base on an error and Hadley Gardner got hit by a pitch to load the bases before DeAnna Burton hit a two-run single, and Jocy May followed with a two-run triple to give the Lady Hornets a 4-3 lead before the first out of the frame was recorded.

The scoring in the inning continued as Morgan Sanders got an RBI on a fielder’s choice and Bailey Morris hit an RBI infield single in her second at-bat to make it a 6-3 game.

The scoring frenzy was capped off by Danley hitting a grand slam over the center-field fence to give the Lady Hornets a seven-run lead.

After a few scoreless innings on both sides, the Lady Hornets got their offense back on track in the bottom of the fourth when Gardner hit a two-run home run to left field to put the score at 12-3.

With two outs and two runners on later in the same inning, Blair Finchum hit an RBI single to make it a 10-run game and put runners at the corners. Sanders followed with an RBI double to score lead runner Camerin Davis with Finchum also scoring on the play due to a throwing error to bring the deficit up to 12.

The Lady Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the fifth, but it wouldn’t be enough to stave off the mercy rule as the Lady Hornets won by 11.

Danley pitched a complete game for the Lady Hornets with 10 strikeouts, six hits and four runs allowed in the victory.

With the win, the Lady Hornets improved to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

They will next play Tuesday at home against Grundy County High School. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.