The Huntland High School Lady Hornets beat the Fayetteville Lady Tigers 22-7 on the road on April 9 for their third win of the season.

The Lady Hornets overcame an early deficit to take control of the game in the middle innings and pulled away late for a blowout district victory.

Huntland head softball coach Michael Tipps said that his players did a good job of putting the ball in play and creating productive outs throughout the day.

“I tell them all the time, if you play a seven-inning game, there’s going to be 21 outs. What do you do with your 21 outs? There were two or three times tonight where we hit groundballs to the right side and got out, but because we put a ball in play and it wasn’t a strikeout, we were able to score a run from third,” he said. “We did a lot of productive things even when we had outs, and that’s why the game kind of got out of hand there toward the end.”

The Lady Tigers got off to a fast start offensively as a grand-slam home run gave them a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the first.

However, the Lady Hornets flipped the scoreboard with a six-run frame in the top of the second as Natalynn Bolin hit into an RBI groundout, Lynsey Jakubowski recorded a two-run triple before later scoring off of a throwing error, and Emily Stewart hit a two-run single to make it a 6-4 game.

The Lady Tigers answered back by scoring two more runs in the bottom of the second to tie the score at 6-6 early.

After a scoreless third inning on both sides, the Lady Hornets retook the lead in the top of the fourth as an RBI double from Catara Johnson and an RBI single from Stewart put them in front by an 8-6 margin.

The Lady Hornets recorded three more runs in the top of the fifth to push the deficit up to 11-6 as Analyn Riddle scored off of a throwing error on a ball hit by Bolin, and Jakubowski and Millie Walker hit into consecutive RBI groundouts in the frame.

The Lady Hornets fully pulled away with an 11run sixth inning as Aliza Hill, pinch-running for Kinah Mason, scored off of a throwing error on a ball hit by Riddle, Walker and Johnson recorded consecutive RBI singles, Jakubowski and Walker scored off of an error on a ball hit by Stewart, Johnson and Stewart scored off of an error after Mason put the ball in play, Peyton Counts and Bolin hit consecutive RBI singles, and Jakubowski contributed an RBI fielder’s choice to bring their lead up to 22-6.

The Lady Tigers scored one more run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Lady Hornets then got the last out they needed to trigger the mercy rule as they won by 15.

Mason pitched a complete game for the Lady Hornets with seven strikeouts, nine hits, one walk, four earned runs and three unearned runs allowed for the day.

With the win, the Lady Hornets improved to 3-6 on the season and 2-1 in district play.

Richland 9, Lady Hornets 6

The Lady Hornets lost to the Richland Lady Raiders 9-6 at home on April 7 for their sixth loss of the season.

The Lady Hornets faced a steady deficit for most of the game as the Lady Raiders gave them their first district loss of the year.

The Lady Raiders jumped out to an early lead after scoring three runs in the top of the first inning.

The Lady Hornets made up some ground in the bottom of the first as Stewart scored off of an error following a single from Mason and Lily Jackson hit an RBI double to make it a 3-2 game.

However, the Lady Raiders got one of those runs back in the top of the second to put the overall score at 4-2.

An RBI groundout from Walker in the bottom of the fourth allowed the Lady Hornets to cut into the deficit again before the Lady Raiders scored another run in the top of the fifth to grow the deficit back up to 5-3.

The Lady Raiders went on to score four more runs in the top of the sixth to put the Lady Hornets in a 9-3 hole late.

The Lady Hornets then cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth as Walker recorded an RBI double and Jakubowski and Walker scored off of an error on a ball hit by Stewart to make it a 9-6 game.

However, the Lady Hornets were held off the board in the bottom of the seventh as they lost by three.

Mason pitched a complete game for the Lady Hornets with five strikeouts, 11 hits, one walk, five earned runs and four unearned runs allowed.

With the loss, the Lady Hornets moved to 2-6 on the season and 1-1 in district play.

They next played Monday at home against Moore County High School in a game which came after the

Herald Chronicle’s press deadline.