Lady ‘Blazers Fend Off Lady Wolves, Stay Atop Big East
After four scoreless innings, Daniel Boone went oppo in producing a 5-2 victory at West Ridge Monday evening.
Riley Croley, Anna Richardson and Josie Jenkins all went the other way with key run-producing hits to fend off the Lady Wolves.
“We’ve worked on that (opposite field hitting) for two weeks,” said Daniel Boone coach Jeremy Jenkins. “People have really been trying to keep away from Riley and our right-handed hitters. They’ve really tried to bust us away and we’ve worked on that to try and go the opposite way as much as we can.”
Croley broke the ice, poking a two-out double to left center that plated McKenzie Strouth in the top of the fifth.
“Riley’s hit really got us going and after we got ahead, we exhaled a little bit,” added Jenkins.
Ava Saul opened the visitor’s sixth with a single. Courtesy runner Sadie Hall moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on clean-up hitter Kyleigh Bacon’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a double to right field by five-hole hitter Anna Richardson.
Richardson then stole third and scored on a throwing error.
“Anna is a tremendously hard worker, really works a lot on her own, wanting to get better at her craft,” noted Jenkins. “She could be up in the lineup because of her speed, but we like her at five with the opportunity to knock in runs because she’s one of our better hitters against good pitching. She likes it down there and she’s hitting right at .400.”
Taylor Brinn walked with one out in the seventh, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on Jenkins’ base knock to right. After two base on balls, Jenkins came home with Boone’s fifth run to make it 5-0.
“Late in the game, I thought we did a better job at the plate,” Jenkins said. We executed some short game. We kind of forced the issue a little bit and got a lot of things from a lot of different people.”
Including of course, the interchangeable Saul and Kaylea Osborne in the circle and at first.
Tossing the odd innings, Saul struck out six and allowed just two hits with Oborne working the even allowing one hit and fanning four.
“Our pitching has really been the difference in games,” noted Jenkins. “They kept us in the game and we got enough hits there late with runners on.”
Boone tallied only five hits in the game, four off West Ridge starter Miranda Henley.
“We didn’t have a lot of good at-bats,” added Jenkins. “We haven’t really ever hit her hard either the last two years. She does a good job of hiding the ball late.”
West Ridge also scored late, plating two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Pinch-hitter Sierra Horton drew a walk and later scored on Lily Frazier’s triple. Frazier would come home on a Nila Horne sacrifice bunt.
Horton is the only senior for the 21-13 Lady Wolves noted coach Bill Wagner, who earlier had reflected on a three-year-old photo depicting early construction of the West Ridge diamond.
“From 2021 to 2024 and where we are at, I’m pretty darn happy about it,” said Wagner. “We are just right there. With that being said, I expect to win every game. We had two errors tonight that hurt.
The West Ridge line-up also routinely features four freshmen, sometimes five.
“Some are still learning they belong. We’re getting better, but still have to learn the final little stab and finish it.”
The victory keeps the Lady ‘Blazers (4-1, 17-10) atop the Big East Conference, which will see a frenzy of league contests over the next week.
West Ridge hosts Dobyns-Bennett Tuesday and Daniel Boone again on Thursday before closing out the league slate next Tuesday at Science Hill.
In addition to its rematch with the Lady Wolves, Daniel Boone plays at Science Hill Tuesday, hosts the Lady ‘Toppers on Wednesday and play at Dobyns-Bennett next Tuesday.
Daniel Boone – Ava Saul, Kaylea Osborne (2), Ava Saul (3), Kaylea Osborne (4), Ava Saul (5), Kaylea Osborne (6), Ava Saul (7) and McKenzie Strouth, Kyleigh Bacon (5). West Ridge – Miranda Henley, Victoria Browder (6) and Natalie Moore, Savannah Pogue (6). W – Ava Saul, L – Miranda Henley. 2B – Anna Richardson, Daniel Boone 2; Riley Croley, Daniel Boone. 3B – Lily Frazier, West Ridge. RBI - Daniel Boone 3 (Riley Croley, Josie Jenkins, Anna Richardson), West Ridge 2 (Lily Frazier, Nila Horne). SAC – Kyleigh Bacon, Daniel Boone; Nila Horne, West Ridge. SB - Daniel Boone 3 (Anna Richardson, Taylor Brinn, Sadie Hall), West Ridge 1 (Kami Clark). LOB - Daniel Boone 6, West Ridge 3.
Riley Croley, Anna Richardson and Josie Jenkins all went the other way with key run-producing hits to fend off the Lady Wolves.
“We’ve worked on that (opposite field hitting) for two weeks,” said Daniel Boone coach Jeremy Jenkins. “People have really been trying to keep away from Riley and our right-handed hitters. They’ve really tried to bust us away and we’ve worked on that to try and go the opposite way as much as we can.”
Croley broke the ice, poking a two-out double to left center that plated McKenzie Strouth in the top of the fifth.
“Riley’s hit really got us going and after we got ahead, we exhaled a little bit,” added Jenkins.
Ava Saul opened the visitor’s sixth with a single. Courtesy runner Sadie Hall moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on clean-up hitter Kyleigh Bacon’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a double to right field by five-hole hitter Anna Richardson.
Richardson then stole third and scored on a throwing error.
“Anna is a tremendously hard worker, really works a lot on her own, wanting to get better at her craft,” noted Jenkins. “She could be up in the lineup because of her speed, but we like her at five with the opportunity to knock in runs because she’s one of our better hitters against good pitching. She likes it down there and she’s hitting right at .400.”
Taylor Brinn walked with one out in the seventh, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on Jenkins’ base knock to right. After two base on balls, Jenkins came home with Boone’s fifth run to make it 5-0.
“Late in the game, I thought we did a better job at the plate,” Jenkins said. We executed some short game. We kind of forced the issue a little bit and got a lot of things from a lot of different people.”
Including of course, the interchangeable Saul and Kaylea Osborne in the circle and at first.
Tossing the odd innings, Saul struck out six and allowed just two hits with Oborne working the even allowing one hit and fanning four.
“Our pitching has really been the difference in games,” noted Jenkins. “They kept us in the game and we got enough hits there late with runners on.”
Boone tallied only five hits in the game, four off West Ridge starter Miranda Henley.
“We didn’t have a lot of good at-bats,” added Jenkins. “We haven’t really ever hit her hard either the last two years. She does a good job of hiding the ball late.”
West Ridge also scored late, plating two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Pinch-hitter Sierra Horton drew a walk and later scored on Lily Frazier’s triple. Frazier would come home on a Nila Horne sacrifice bunt.
Horton is the only senior for the 21-13 Lady Wolves noted coach Bill Wagner, who earlier had reflected on a three-year-old photo depicting early construction of the West Ridge diamond.
“From 2021 to 2024 and where we are at, I’m pretty darn happy about it,” said Wagner. “We are just right there. With that being said, I expect to win every game. We had two errors tonight that hurt.
The West Ridge line-up also routinely features four freshmen, sometimes five.
“Some are still learning they belong. We’re getting better, but still have to learn the final little stab and finish it.”
The victory keeps the Lady ‘Blazers (4-1, 17-10) atop the Big East Conference, which will see a frenzy of league contests over the next week.
West Ridge hosts Dobyns-Bennett Tuesday and Daniel Boone again on Thursday before closing out the league slate next Tuesday at Science Hill.
In addition to its rematch with the Lady Wolves, Daniel Boone plays at Science Hill Tuesday, hosts the Lady ‘Toppers on Wednesday and play at Dobyns-Bennett next Tuesday.
Daniel Boone | 000 | 012 | 2 | -- | 5 | 5 | 1 |
West Ridge | 000 | 000 | 2 | -- | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Daniel Boone – Ava Saul, Kaylea Osborne (2), Ava Saul (3), Kaylea Osborne (4), Ava Saul (5), Kaylea Osborne (6), Ava Saul (7) and McKenzie Strouth, Kyleigh Bacon (5). West Ridge – Miranda Henley, Victoria Browder (6) and Natalie Moore, Savannah Pogue (6). W – Ava Saul, L – Miranda Henley. 2B – Anna Richardson, Daniel Boone 2; Riley Croley, Daniel Boone. 3B – Lily Frazier, West Ridge. RBI - Daniel Boone 3 (Riley Croley, Josie Jenkins, Anna Richardson), West Ridge 2 (Lily Frazier, Nila Horne). SAC – Kyleigh Bacon, Daniel Boone; Nila Horne, West Ridge. SB - Daniel Boone 3 (Anna Richardson, Taylor Brinn, Sadie Hall), West Ridge 1 (Kami Clark). LOB - Daniel Boone 6, West Ridge 3.
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