Hornettes Take Down Mater Dei

Brooke Burcham looks for a pitch to hit during the Hornettes 14-4 win over Mater Dei on April 12.
The Nashville Hornettes are in the midst of one of the busiest stretches of the season. Since April 10, the Hornettes have played four games, with at least five games remaining this week. Nashville hosted Carterville on April 17. Anna-Jonesboro comes to town on April 18. The Hornettes travel to Pinckneyville on April 19. Nashville closes out the week by hosting the Nashville Softball Invitational Tournament on Saturday April 21. All of these games are weather permitting.
This past week the Hornettes went three of four as they defeated DuQuoin, Mater Dei, and Sparta with their only loss coming on the road against Anna-Jonesboro on Friday the 13th.
Nashville began the week with a road matchup against DuQuoin on April 10. DuQuoin led late, but the Hornettes put up three runs in the seventh to take a 4-2 win.
The Hornettes got the early lead as Mackenzie McFeron reached on an error in the first and came around to score when Jordan Stiegman walked with the bases loaded. The score would hold steady until the bottom of the sixth, when DuQuoin scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
The Lady Indians could not hold the lead as in the top of the seventh the Hornettes would grab the lead right back. McFeron singled to begin the inning, and would score on a RBI single by Paige Kasten. Kasten would laer come around to score to give the Hornettes the lead. Stanowski would then double. Courtesy runner Olivia Cooke would then come around to score on a sacrifice fly from Jenna Harris. In the bottom half of the inning, the Hornettes closed out the game and took the 4-2 win.
Kyleigh Guinzy got the win in the circle as she pitched all seven innings for Nashville. Guinzy gave up just four hits, two earned runs, and struck out three.
Offensively, McFeron led the way with three hits, two runs scored and four steals at the top of the lineup. Kasten finished the game 1-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Stiegman also drove in a run as she finished the game 1-2. Stiegman also walked twice in the contest. Stanowski notched two hits in the win. Harris did not record a hit, but drove in a run, while Cook scored a run and stole a base for the Hornettes.
The Hornettes next contest was against Mater Dei on April 12. The Hornettes bats were hot in this one as they were able to take down the Lady Knights 14-4 in five innings.
The two teams traded runs in the first inning. After Mater Dei strung some hits together in the first to take a 1-0 lead, the Hornettes came right back to tie it. McFeron would lead off with a triple and score on a passed ball to tie the game.
Nashville would take the lead for good in the third as the Hornettes scored four runs in the frame to take a 5-1 lead. Libby Ahlers, McFeron, and Kasten each hit singles to lead off the inning. The first run of the inning would come around to score on as Sophie Heck walked with the bases loaded. A sacrifice fly from Jordan Stiegman gave the Hornettes a 3-1 lead. Brooke Burcham and Harris each followed it up with RBI singles to give the Hornets a 5-1 lead.
Mater Dei would make it close as they scored two in the fourth, and one in the fifth to cut the Nashville lead to 5-4. In the bottom of the fifth, the Hornettes would push nine runs across the plate to end the game in five innings. In the fifth, the Hornettes drew five walks and notched four hits. Overall Nashville sent ten people to the plate in the fifth inning.
After the game, Coach Shaun Renth talked about limiting Mater Dei to four runs. “I didn’t expect them to score only four runs. I thought that is where Jenna did such a great job today. I thought our defense was pretty good. Sophie (Heck) makes a great diving catch. Brooke (Burcham) makes a great catch over her shoulder in the outfield. Karly (Stanowski) makes a great diving catch. I think we made a lot of good plays today. That is what we need. We need to make plays. Just a good all-around effort by our girls. I thought we were really patient after our first time seeing her. We got pitches we could handle, laid off the high stuff. Did a really good job of adjusting.”
Harris pitched all five innings in the circle and gave up just six hits. Of the four runs given up, only two of the runs were earned. A lot of contact in the game, Harris did not walk a batter, and did not strike out a batter.
Offensively four different players had at least two hits for Nashville. Heck led the way with four RBIs in the game, three of which came on a three run bomb in the fifth inning. Heck also walked twice and scored three runs.Harris drove in three runs and notched two hits in the game. Kasten finished 3-4 with two runs scored and a RBI. McFeron finished the game 2-4 with two runs scored. Burcham finished with two hits, a run, a walk and a RBI. Ahlers and Stiegman each scored two runs and notched one hit in the win. Whitley Hunter and Cook each scored a run.
The Hornettes lone loss this week came against Anna-Jonesboro on April 13. A back and forth game, the Lady Wildcats were able to come out on top on their home field 7-5.
Nashville took the early lead as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Anna-Jonesboro would tie the game in the bottom of the second, but Nashville would grab the lead right back in the third and held a 4-3 lead after three innings of play.
Anna-Jonesboro tied the game in the fourth, but again the Hornettes would take back the lead. Nashville scored their final run of the game in the sixth and held a 5-4 lead going into the bottom half of the frame. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Wildcats scored three runs to take the lead for good. In the seventh, the Hornettes could not make a comeback as they fell 7-5.
Guinzy pitched all six innings for Nashville. Guinzy gave up 12 hits, seven earned runs and struck out five.
On offense. Stanowski led the way with two hits, both of which were doubles, and two RBIs. McFeron finished 2-2 with two walks, and two runs scored. Harris finished with three hits in the game. Burcham singled and scored in the loss, while Stiegman notched two hits in the game. Heck drove in a run, but did not record a hit. Cook scored two runs for Nashville.
Nashville got back on the winning track on April 16 with a 13-1 win over Sparta in five innings. The Hornettes scored early and often in this one as they cruised to a win.
The Hornettes would get two in the first and three in the second to take an early 5-0 lead. The floodgates would open in the third as eight runs came across the plate. As a team, the Hornettes fell just a double short of the cycle in the third inning as Burcham crushed a solo home run. McFeron hit a triple, and Ahlers, Stiegman, Heck, and Burcham all notched singles in the inning.
Sparta would score a run in the fourth, but it was their only run of the game as the Hornettes took the twelve run win.
After the game, Coach Shaun Renth talked about bouncing back from the loss at Anna-Jonesboro. “We told the girls before the game, we want to bounce back here, get that bad taste out of our mouth and they did the job we needed to do today.It was a good job for us. Hit the ball really well. Got a good effort from Jenna out there and did what we needed to do today.”
Harris started the game in the circle and went three innings. Harris gave up just one hit, and struck out one batter. Hunter came in to finish the game and pitched the final two innings. Hunter gave up three hits, one unearned run and struck out two.
Burcham led the way offensively with two hits, and two runs driven in. One hit was a solo home run in the third inning. Stiegman and McFeron also notched two hits and drove in two runs in the win for Nashville. Kasten drove in two and scored twice on hit in the game. Heck finished with one hit, one run, and a RBI. Ahlers scored two runs and drove in a run for the Hornettes. Harris finished 1-1 with a double and walked for the Hornettes. Guinzy scored two runs in the win, while Cook scored one run for Nashville.