Lady Warriors win 8th straight game

May 13—The Lady Warriors of Southwestern, winners of 7 straight and owners of the 2nd-best RPI in the 12th Region entering the final week of the regular season, hosted the Lady Redhounds of Corbin on Thursday evening, a very solid team out of the 13th Region who came into tonight's game with a 15-11 record. The Warriors sent their ace, Kaitlyn Gwin to the mound in this one, who in 15 games pitched has a 12-2 record, a 1.84 earned run average, and 98 strikeouts. Corbin would counter with Kennedie Guiher, who has only appeared in 4 games thus far this season. The pitching advantage was certainly with the home team in this one and this appeared to be true early, as after 2 innings of play Southwestern had a 5-0 advantage. Corbin would close the gap slightly outscoring the Lady Warriors 4-2 the rest of the way through the ball game, but Southwestern would come away with a hard-earned 7-4 victory.

The first two batters for Corbin in the top of the first would line out in the infield to quickly put 2 outs on the scoreboard. The 3rd batter, Danni Foley, would reach base on a walk to become the first player to reach a base safely. The next batter stepped up and launched a fly ball to center field, where outfielder Jordyn McDonald made a spectacular diving grab to record the 3rd out and retire the side. The first batter up for Southwestern, Ashtyn Hines, managed to reach base following a walk in the bottom of the frame. After Hines stole 2nd base, a single down the left field line by Alyssa Raleigh would put 2 players on base with no outs. Gwin stepped up to bat following this and she would launch a shot to deep center field that narrowly avoided going over the wall, good enough for a 2 RBI double and putting the home team out in front 2-0, with Lexi Martin coming on to pinch run for Gwin. Martin then stole 3rd base and a smack of the ball by Kylie Dalton would result in an out being recorded, although the run from 3rd base would score, giving the Lady Warriors their 3rd run of the game. Aimee Johnson would continue the hit party with a double to deep center field. A lineout by McDonald would advance Johnson to 3rd base, although the next batter would also lineout to end the 1st inning, with Southwestern out in front 3-0.

The first batter for the Lady Redhounds in the top of the second would line out to the short stop, before Raegan Walker would grab the first hit of the game for the visiting team, a single off the short stop's glove. Morgan Hicks would then grab a single of her own to right field to put 2 runners on base for the Redhounds with only one out. Gwin would then strikeout 2 straight batters (with her 2nd strikeout being her 100th strikeout of the season) to get out of the jam. The first 2 batters for Southwestern would be retired relatively quickly in the bottom of the 2nd. Hines would once again draw a walk to reach 1st base safely. After 2 straight stolen bases by Hines to reach 3rd base, Raleigh would also draw a walk to put runners on the corners. Gwin would step up to bat again and she would hit an infield single to score the 4th run of the game for the Lady Warriors. As she rounded 1st base, a throwing error would score the 5th run of the game and allow her to reach 3rd base. The next batter would then lineout to 1st base to retire the side, with Southwestern now up in front 5-0.

Corbin would start off the top of the third with a great bunt for a single by Alayna Reynolds. The following batter would fly out to right field before Foley would draw a walk to put 2 runners on for the visiting team. Kallie Housley would finally get the Redhounds into the scoring column after this, with Housley smacking an RBI double to center field. Kaila Stidham would hit into a fielder's choice that saw the lead runner be tagged out at home plate. Walker would then smack an RBI single into left field to make the score 5-2 in favor of Southwestern. After Stidham reached 3rd base following a steal, the next batter would smack a ball into center field, where McDonald proceeded to make yet another great catch in the outfield to retire the side. To start off the bottom of the 3rd, Corbin brought in Foley to pitch. The pitching change worked out well for the Lady Redhounds, with Foley striking out the side to grab 3 early strikeouts and transfer some momentum to the visiting team heading into the fourth inning.

Gwin refocused on the mound in the top of the frame, with the Lady Warriors retiring 3 straight Corbin batters to reach the home half of the inning with ease (with Gwin throwing 2 more strikeouts to give her 4 total for the game). It was more dominant stuff for Foley on the mound for the Lady Redhounds in the bottom of the 4th inning, as she retired 3 straight batters once again (including getting her 4th and 5th strikeouts of the day). After a rather lengthy first 3 innings, the 4th inning ended rather quickly with both pitchers seemingly digging in on the mound and throwing their best stuff.

Gwin would start off the top of the fifth inning with her 5th strikeout of the evening. Foley would then step up to bat and would launch one of the biggest hits of the game, a triple to deep right field. A lineout by Housley would get Foley home from 3rd base, resulting in the sacrifice RBI and making the Southwestern lead sit at just 2 runs at 5-3. The following batter would fly out to 3rd base to end the half-inning there without any more runs coming across. The first batter up for the Lady Warriors in the bottom of the frame would fly out to center field. Gwin would then grab her 3rd hit of the game, a single to center field, with Martin once again coming in to pinch run for her. Dalton would be able to draw a walk to put 2 runners on board for the home team, with Brooklyn Marcum coming in to pinch run for her. After a double steal to put both runners into scoring position, an infield single by Johnson would load up the bases. McDonald would then hit a sacrifice RBI line out to score the 6th run of the game for the Lady Warriors. An infield fly out by the next batter would end the 5th inning there, with 2 runners stranded in scoring position, as Southwestern led this one 6-3.

It was 3 batters up and 3 batters down for Corbin to begin the sixth inning, including Gwin getting her 6th strikeout of the ball game, as the side was retired quickly. Taylor Nelson led off the bottom of the 6th for the home team and she would launch the ball to deep left field off the outfield wall, giving herself a double for her effort. A perfectly placed sacrifice bunt by Brynn Troxell would advance Nelson onto 3rd base. An infield single by Hines following this would result in the 7th run of the game for the Lady Warriors, and although the next batter would fly out to left field, Hines did manage to steal 2nd base for yet another stolen base in this one. A lineout to 3rd base would end the 6th inning, however, as Southwestern led this one 7-3 with the Redhounds having one more chance to make the comeback.

Gwin would be able to strikeout the first 2 batters she saw to begin the seventh inning, giving her 8 total for the game and putting the Lady Redhounds down to their final out. Bailey Stewart would be able to strike an infield single to give Corbin a glimpse of hope at this point. Foley would grab another hit after this, a single to left field, to put 2 runners on base for Corbin. Another single, this one by Housley to center field, would result in the RBI for Corbin's 4th run of the ball game. With 2 runners on and 2 outs on the scoreboard, the tying run came up to the plate for the Lady Redhounds, but thankfully for the Lady Warriors, Gwin made a stellar play catching a line drive coming straight towards her and after she threw the runner out, Southwestern had officially won this ball game by a score of 7-4, giving themselves their 8th straight win (their biggest win streak of the season, with it coming at the best time to do so, right at the end of the year). Gwin starred in this one with 3 RBI's on the plate and 8 strikeouts on the mound, with McDonald providing some memorable grabs in the outfield. These Lady Warriors are peaking at just the right time and they should definitely be considered a favorite in the 12th Region tournament.

Southwestern improves to 17-5 on the year and have five more games left in the regular season. On Saturday, the Lady Warriors will host two teams as part of the Don Franklin Showcase.