Rachel Ashcraft celebrated her last game at Hundred in style, drilling a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the seventh to help give Hundred a come-from-behind 6-4 victory over Paden City at Cosgray Field in Hundred April 29.

In the top of the first, Hundred pitcher Jordyn Gorby sat down the first two Wildcat batters on strike outs. After two Hornet errors, Gorby would take it upon herself to end the inning with her third strike out of the frame.

In the bottom half of the inning, the ‘Cats’ hurler, Amber Palmer, struck out the first batter on three straight strikes before giving up a base on balls to Haley Hayes. Raven McDiffitt singled, moving Hayes and McDiffitt into scoring position on a wild pitch. Palmer struck out Gorby and induced Macy Woods into a harmless ground out.

‘Cat senior Amanda Tallman singled to open the second and moved to second on a stolen base. Bethany Arnett moved Tallman to third on a ground out and later scored on a fielder’s choice by Ashley Efaw. Gorby got out of the inning with another strike out.

Palmer walked Ashcraft and then buckled down to strike out the side. Palmer helped herself at the plate when she tattooed the ball for a stand-up double. She moved to third when teammate Samantha Shreves reached on a Hornet error. Courtney Conaway worked Gorby for a walk and moved to second on a pass ball. ‘Cat catcher Dominique Craft struck out, but reached first on a dropped third strike. Palmer scored on a wild pitch, as did Shreves and Craft later in the frame. But, the damage was done and Paden City held a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.

Palmer struck out the first Hornet batter, then Efaw made a nice play to retire a hard hit by Hayes for inning’s second out. However, McDiffitt walked and stole second to get things going for Hundred. Gorby also walked and both Gorby and McDiffitt scored on a Paden City miscue to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.

Fifteen batters faced Gorby the rest of the way with only Shreves getting a hit and only one player reaching second the rest of the way. The ‘Cats hit the ball, but the Hornet centerfielder Mercedez Goff ran down numerous hits with outstanding catches.

Hundred scored a run to pull with one run in the bottom of the seventh. That set up Ashcraft’s heroics, but not before the ‘Cats made a couple of nice defensive plays themselves. Craft tagged out a Hornet runner at the plate. Then Loub made a fine catch, robbing Goff of a single, and made a nice tag at second on a nifty pitch-and-catch from Craft.

Palmer struck out eight Hornets and walked five, while Gorby sat down seven Hornets and walked two. Both Hundred and Paden City had four errors in the game.

Goff, Hayes and McDiffitt each singled for Hundred, while Woods doubled, Ashcraft singled and tripled, while Gorby scored three runs. Palmer and Loub each doubled to lead the ‘Cats. West singled once, while Shreves and Tallman each pounded out a pair of singles.

Hundred starts sectionals in Morgantown tonight at Mylan Park against Trinity, while the ‘Cats will host the Valley Lumberjills May 6 in their sectionals. There will be a double header at both sites.

Clay-Battelle Softball Bash

The Hundred Hornets lost four games in the Clay-Battelle Softball Bash at Morgantown April 23-24 – bowing to Fairmont Senior, 4-2; West Greene, 18-2; Preston County 18-5; and Morgantown, 10-0.

In the opener against Faimont Senior, Fairmont squeezed out a pair of runs in the first frame. But, the Lady Hornets cut the deficit to a run after scoring one in the second.

Fairmont scored an unearned run in the fourth and another one in the sixth to get the win. Hundred equaled the Fairmont score in the fourth, but couldn’t get any closer.

Jordyn Gorby struck out eight batters and walked four, while scattering eight hits, with only two runs earned.

At the dish, Raven McDiffitt, Macy Woods and Lindsay Burley each singled, with McDiffitt and Gorby the only two Hornets to touch home in the game. Woods had the only RBI, while she and McDiffitt each stole a base for Hundred.

In the second game that started at 9 pm. against West Greene. the Hornets started off competing with them for three frames before falling asleep in the final three frames in a 18-2 mercy-rule shortened game.

Gorby took the loss from the rubber for Hundred, while striking out five and walking four in four frames of pitching. Woods pitched two innings and gave up eight runs on 10 hits, while walking four and striking out one.

Offensively for the Hornets, McDiffitt led the way with a pair of singles, while Burley, Haley Hayes and Emily Ebbert each singled. Ebert and Burley each knocked in a run, while Shelley Cork and Michelle McClelland each walked and scored a run.

The Lady Hornets had nine errors in six frames that help lead to their demise.

*****

Against Preston County, the Lady Hornets led 2-0 after one inning, but fell behind 10-2 after three and couldn’t recover in a 18-5 loss.

Rachel Ashcraft was the pitcher of record for the Lady Hornets. She struck out three and walked eight, while giving up five hits.

McDiffitt did her share. She had a single, double, triple, two stolen bases, while driving home three runs and scoring a run. Mercedez Goff, Haley Hayes and Emily Ebbert each added singles, while Taylor Ashcraft and Ebbert each scored a run.

To this point, the Hornets committed 18 errors, nine in each of the first two games.

In the final game of the Clay-Battelle Bash, the Hornets gave Morgantown everything they could muster, but it wasn’t enough as the Mohicans won, 10-0, in a mercy-rule shortened game. Gorby pitched and struck out five and walked one to take the loss from the mound.

Goff, McDiffitt, Gorby, Burley, Ebert and Taylor Ashcraft each singled, while Hayes and McDiffitt each had a stolen base.

“We played well at times and not so well at times,” said Hornet Head Coach Brian Bartlett. “Our pitchers pitched as well as expected, but, as a team, we commtted too many errors.

“We also must put the ball into play a lot more and get a few more hits. In the four games, we had 20 hits, and Raven had seven of them. We have to be more confident and quit swinging at bad pitches when we step to the plate,” added Bartlett.

Bartlett went on to add, “All in all, I’m proud of how our girls competed against some very good softball teams, three of which were Class AAA schools. We hope to use this experence and grow from it. We have three more regular season games left and then prepare for the our sectionals, May 5-6.”