Hornettes Pick Up Three Wins

Libby Ahlers was responsible for both of the Hornettes runs in their loss to Pinckneyville on April 9. Ahlers hit a two-run home run in the loss.
By Brent Huelsmann
After struggling to even get on the field over the first couple weeks of the season, the Hornettes played four games in the past week, winning three of the four. Nashville defeated Murphysboro, Carterville, and Lebanon before dropping a contest to Pinckneyville. The Hornettes have a record of 9-3. Nashville traveled to DuQuoin on April 10, and are back home to face Mater Dei on April 12.
In their first contest of the week, the Hornettes engaged in a slugfest with Murphysboro. Each offense showed their strength, but it was the Hornettes coming out on top with a 14-12 win.
Murphysboro scored three in the top of the first, but the Hornettes came back with two of their own. Each team scored four runs in the second inning, but Murphysboro still held a 7-6 lead. The big hit for Nashville in the second inning was a three run home run by Karly Stanowski. Murphysboro continued to extend their lead as they scored two in the third to take a 9-6 advantage. The Hornettes would not let the Lady Red Devils get far as they put up a run of their own in the third to cut the Murphysboro advantage to two. After Murphysboro put up two more in the fourth, Nashville took the lead for good in the fifth as six runs crossed the plate. Nashville would add a run in the sixth, and hold off Murphysboro in the seventh as the Hornettes grabbed a 14-12 win.
Mackenzie McFeron and Paige Kasten had great games at the top of the lineup. Both McFeron and Kasten finished with three hits and three runs scored. Kasten drove in two runs, while McFeron drove in one. Stanowski finished 1-4, the lone hit being the three run home run. Jenna Harris drove in two runs on two hits, both of which were doubles. Libby Ahlers finished with three hits and scored three runs in the game. Sophie Heck drove in one run on two hits, while Brooke Burcham scored a run, and doubled in the contest. Kyleigh Guinzy finished 1-4 with an RBI. Whitley Hunter scored two runs, and Jordan Stiegman scored one run.
In the circle, Guinzy started the contest and went three innings. Guinzy gave up 11 runs, seven of which were earned and struck out two. Harris came in in relief and pitched the final four innings. Harris only gave up three hits and one unearned run in the game.
Nashville was back in action on April 5 as they opened conference play against Carterville. A close game in the early going, Nashville used a big fifth inning to defeat the Lady Lions 12-2 in six innings.
Nashville got the scoring started with a run in the second inning, and followed it up with three runs in the third. Carterville cut the Hornettes lead in half with two runs in the bottom of the third, but those would be the only runs they would score. Nashville broke the game open with six runs in the fifth, and added two more in the sixth as they picked up the win over their conference rival.
Harris pitched the entire game for Nashville as she went six innings, gave up five hits, and two earned runs. Harris struck out two.
Offensively, Kasten and Harris each drove in three runs and had two hits in the game. Kasten also scored two runs. McFeron finished 3-4 with two runs, a RBI, a double, a walk and two stolen bases. Stiegman finished 2-4 with two runs scored and a RBI. Guinzy scored twice, walked twice and finished with one hit for Nashville. Ahlers drove in a run and scored a run in the win. Stanowski finished with two hits, while Burcham finished with one hit and a walk. Olivia Cook scored two runs in the game.
The Hornettes played their third game in as many days as they traveled to take on Lebanon. After falling down 5-0, Nashville’s bats  came alive to score 15 runs in three innings to take a 15-5 win in five innings.
Lebanon scored two in the first and three in the second, but could not score after as Nashville took control. The Hornettes took the lead in the third as seven runs crossed the plate. Stanowski hit a two run home run in the inning. The Hornettes would score five more in the fourth as Guinzy crushed a three run bomb in that inning. Nashville would score three more in the fifth capitalizing on three errors by Lebanon. In the bottom half of the inning, the Hornettes were able to close out the win.
After a rocky start to the game, Guinzy settled down in the circle as she pitched three shutout innings to end the game. Harris gave up five runs, but only two were earned. Guinzy walked two, hit a batter, and struck out two.
The Hornettes suffered their first loss of conference play to Pinckneyville on April 7. The home run ball hurt the Hornettes in this one as the Lady Panthers hit three long balls to break the game open.
Pinckneyville held a slim 1-0 lead after the first inning of play, but broke the game open in the middle innings. A three run home run in the third and two solo shots in the fourth helped Pinckneyville take an 8-0 advantage after four innings of play.
The Hornettes got on the board in the fifth as Ahlers hit a deep fly ball right down the line for a two run home run. It was the only runs the Hornettes would score in the game. Pinckneyville scored one in the sixth, and four in the seventh as they picked up a 13-2 win.
After the game Hornettes coach Shaun Renth said the team could learn from this. “You have to see what you have to work on. It gives us a good measuring stick. You see where you’re at, and what you have to get better at. We are going to take this as a learning experience and move on.”
Harris started the game in the circle and went four innings. Harris gave up eight runs,seven earned and struck out one. Guinzy came in in relief and pitched final three innings. Guinzy gave up five runs, four earned and struck out one.
The Hornettes finished with just four hits in the contest. Ahlers finished 1-3 with a run scored, the lone hit being a two-run home run. Stanowski, Heck, and Harris all finished the game 1-3. Burcham scored the lone other run for Nashville as she walked and came around to score.