The start of the softball season has been nice to the Emporia State Lady Hornets as they began the season 4-1 after a dominant Lone Star Classic showing. Over the weekend, they competed in the Alvy Early Memorial Classic, looking to continue their strong start to the year, but they instead experienced some turbulence, going 2-3 in the tournament.
The Lady Hornets started the tournament against William Jewell, and it started off as a pitching duel. Izzy Sloan got the start in the circle for the Lady Hornets and got to work. Sloan, along with William Jewell’s starter, held the offenses scoreless through the first two innings of the game until William Jewell put four on the board in the top of the third. The Lady Hornets responded with a four-run inning of their own as junior infielder Brooke Flewelling hit a three-run home run, then got their fourth on a wild pitch.
Sophomore pitcher Chloe Wilson took over for Sloan and stymied William Jewell for the rest of the game. The Lady Hornets added two more three-run innings in the game to leave with a 10-4 victory to start the tournament. Wilson had four and a third scoreless innings out of the pen, Flewelling had a four-RBI game, and senior outfielder Taryn Burkhardt reached base three times, stole three bases, and had three runs.
In the second game of the doubleheader to start the tournament, the Lady Hornets faced off against Arkansas Tech. This game was a pitching duel for the whole game as the Lady Hornets sent freshman hurler Hannah Butterbaugh to the circle. Both teams were scoreless for the first three innings of the game until junior infielder Avery Brewer hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. With a 1-0 lead, Butterbaugh continued dealing in the circle, and the Lady Hornets added another run in the sixth off an error by Arkansas Tech.
The bottom of the sixth saw Arkansas Tech finally break through with an RBI single, and after Butterbaugh got out of the inning, her day was done. She went six innings, giving up a run on seven hits and two strikeouts. After a fruitless top of the seventh for the Lady Hornet bats, Chloe Wilson came on to close a 2-1 game, but Arkansas Tech was not done. They got an RBI single to tie the game and loaded the bases after that. With the pressure on, Arkansas Tech walked off the game via a walk and took the win 3-2.
With a 1-1 record in the tournament, the Lady Hornets’ next opponent was Truman State. Freshman Maci Hayes got the start, and the Lady Hornets got another dominant start from their starting rotation. The offense, on the other hand, had a slow day until the later innings as both teams struggled to get going through the first five innings. The Lady Hornets broke through with a three-run sixth inning, powered by a sacrifice fly, a walk, and an error. They added three more in the seventh inning to seal the deal. Hayes had five shutout innings, only allowing one hit and two walks while striking out two batters.
In another doubleheader, the Lady Hornets faced Harding in the second game, and Harding came out hot with a four-run first inning off Hornet starter Chloe Wilson. The Lady Hornets tried to mount the comeback, but Harding’s offense was too much to overcome as they added four more runs throughout the game to win 8-4. The Lady Hornets needed another win to end the tournament with a .500 record as they faced St. Mary’s (Tx).
In the final game, the Lady Hornets sent Hayes out to the circle for the start, and she started the game with two shutout innings. St. Mary’s (Tx) broke through in the third inning with an RBI single, an RBI double, and an error from the Lady Hornets. This inning knocked Hayes out of the game, and the Lady Hornets sent Butterbaugh out in relief to close the inning out. The Lady Hornet offense began to mount the comeback in the fourth as Avery Brewer drove in a run on her RBI single, then a St. Mary’s (Tx) error brought in another run for the Hornets.
That two-run inning was not enough to fully spark the comeback, however, as St. Mary’s (Tx) got an insurance run in the sixth to seal the game. The Lady Hornets got another run off a groundout from junior outfielder Elina Bartlett to make it 4-3, but it was still a Hornet loss.
The Lady Hornets went 2-3 at the Alva Early Memorial Classic and now sit at 6-4 on the season. They now get a little break before they hit the road again when they travel to Silver Lake High School in Kansas for the Washburn Tournament starting on Feb. 20.