New Richmond – The marquee sign behind the Wyoming East softball field read 90 degrees Monday night.
It paled in comparison to the heat coming from the bats from the visitors from Scott High School.
Collecting ten hits over four innings, the Skyhawks plated 11 runners to roll past the Warriors 11-1 in five innings.
“We went down to Kentucky and played in the Tri-State Showcase and we had like 45 hits down there and that has sort of carried over to this,” Scott head coach Eric Harper said. “Earlier in the season, we weren’t doing that. With sectionals starting next week and the way we are hitting, I am really excited.”
The two teams met to open the season in Madison with Scott picking up an 8-7 win.
However, Tatum Halley did not play in the first game after a car accident prior to the season sidelined her for a brief period.
The junior hurler quickly made her presence known, helping her own cause before she even stepped in the circle.
With Kayleigh Ellis aboard after a lead-off walk, Halley drove the ball over the right-field fence, just inside the foul pole, for a two-run blast.
“She works really hard and she has really come on here lately. I think that was like her sixth home run,” Harper said. “She has been tearing it up. She hit a couple down in Kentucky. I think we have 19 home runs as a team now.”
The Skyhawks pushed the lead to 5-0 in the second inning with a little help from Wyoming East.
A walk to Dailan Adkins was followed by a one-out bunt attempt from Hailey Capps. When the throw went wide of first base, Adkins came around to score and Capps made it all the way to third base.
A bunt single from Kayleigh Ellis and a stolen base, put runners at second and third for Jayden Ellis who hit a double to score both runs.
“Today was the first day that we kind of mixed our line-up around. There was one game where the bottom half didn’t hit, so we moved some girls around,” Harper said. “These girls don’t care, they just want to to win. I think (by) moving a couple girls down, it just spreads everybody out and everybody feels comfortable.”
While Scott was making things tough with its bats, Halley was holding Wyoming East at bay in the circle. Lead-off singles in the first two innings came up empty with Halley recording two strikeouts in each frame to put a damper on the threat.
The only blemish for Halley would come in the fourth inning when Savannah Brehm launched a shot over the fence and onto the road behind centerfield.
“They hit the ball and we didn’t. We have been struggling hitting every game and I can’t figure it out,” Wyoming East head coach Doc Warner said. “When we get a ball that should be an out, we make it look hard. The other team makes it look easy.”
The Skyhawks looked very comfortable in the fourth inning prior the Brehm’s blast when they sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs.
The big blows in the frame came on a bases-loaded single by Natalie Green that scored two runs and a double from Abigail Cook that plated two more.
“Outs add up. We don’t value an out. There were a couple of fly balls that I thought should have been outs,” Warner said. “The last time we played them, we came back and hit with them. This game we didn’t.”
The road gets no easier for Wyoming East which hosts Class AAA Greenbrier East Tuesday and travels to Man Wednesday.
Scott also has some tough games ahead when it hosts Winfield Tuesday and travels to Nitro Wednesday.
S: 230 60 – 11 10 0
WE: 000 10 – 1 4 2
WP: Tatum Halley; LP: Olivia Hylton
Hitting – S: Kayleigh Ellis 1-3, Jayden Ellis 2-3 (2b, 2 rbi), Tatum Halley 1-1 (HR 2 rbi), Natalie Green 2-3 (2 rbi), Abigail Cook 2-3 (2 2b, 2 rbi), Dailan Adkins 1-2, Hailey Capps 1-3 (rbi); WE: Olivia Hylton 1-3, Savannah Brehm 1-2 (HR), Andrea Laxton 1-2, Alivia Monroe 1-2 (2b).
