HANCEVILLE – In their last meeting at Holly Pond a week ago, the Lady Broncos took the game, 4-3. This time, the game was at Hanceville, but the result was the same as a big third inning proved to be key in Holly Pond's 13-3 rout of the Hanceville Lady Bulldogs that ended after five innings due to the 10-run deficit rule.
Holly Pond got the scoring started in their opening at-bats. Katie Burnham lined a double past Gracie Hudspeth in right field, and then Riley Hooper brought her home with a double of her own to give the Lady Broncos a 1-0 lead. Hanceville answered in their half. Jadah Hurst led off the inning with a double over the glove of left fielder Lexi White. A ground ball by Laney Burgess moved Hurst over to third with one out. Cassidy Campbell lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right-center to tie the game at one. They looked to add more as consecutive singles by Rebecca Nelson and Logan Yates put them in business, and Hannah Flanigan lined a RBI double to left-center to put Hanceville ahead, 2-1.
A leadoff single by Ciara James and a walk by Madelyn Ford had Holly Pond looking to tie the game or take the lead in the second inning. Hailey Crumbley lined out to Burgess at short and then threw to second to double up James, and White got hit by the pitch to put runners on first and second with two outs. But Campbell got Taylor Tankersley to pop out to Destiny Short at first to end the threat. Hanceville looked to add to their lead in their half. Alexia Edwards lined a double into deep right-center. An out later, Burgess lined a single just past the outstretched glove of Tankersley at short to bring home Edwards to increase their lead to 3-1.
Then Holly Pond blew the game wide open as they sent 12 batters to the plate in the third. Campbell got the first two outs of the inning, then Holly Pond started their rally. Holcombe singled and advanced to second on a Flanigan fielding error. Maddie Heatherly crushed a two-run homer over the center field fence to tie the game at three. James walked, then Folds hit a ground ball single to right field, and a walk by Crumbley loaded the bases for White, who gave the Lady Broncos a 5-3 lead with a two-run single. Then another Flanigan fielding error led to two more runs scored, and after a walk, Hooper increased the lead to 9-3 with a two-run double. Kolby Holcombe finished the onslaught with an RBI single. When the smoke finally cleared, the Lady Broncos found themselves up 10-3. Holly Pond added another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Folds. Holcombe smoked a two-run homer over the center-field fence to put the final score at 13-3.
Holds pitched a complete game, allowing 10 hits and three runs, walking and striking out zero, and she also hit a batter. She added a hit and an RBI. All but one Lady Bronco reached base on either a hit or a walk. Heatherly and Holcombe went a combined 6-for-8 with two home runs, a double, three singles and had a combined five RBIs. Hooper and White each added two hits and had a combined five RBIs. Holly Pond improved to 9-6 on the season and is now 4-1 in their last five games. They will look to continue their recent hot streak tomorrow at home vs. West Point.
Campbell went the distance as well, as she allowed 14 hits, 13 runs, 10 of them earned, walked six, struck out five and hit two. She added a hit and an RBI as well, as did Flanigan and Burgess. Yates went 3-for-3, all singles. Hurst added two hits. Nelson and Edwards each added a hit of their own. The Lady Bulldogs dropped their third in a row as they fell to 9-7 on the season. They will look to snap their losing streak on April 3 at Carbon Hill.
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