Huntland's Jocy May swings at an incoming pitch in this file photo from earlier in the season. May had five hits, including a home run, six RBIs and two runs scored for the Lady Hornets Monday in their 18-16 win at Moore County High School.
Huntland's Jocy May swings at an incoming pitch in this file photo from earlier in the season. May had five hits, including a home run, six RBIs and two runs scored for the Lady Hornets Monday in their 18-16 win at Moore County High School.
The Huntland High School Lady Hornets beat the Moore County Raiderettes 18-16 in eight innings on the road Monday for their fifth win of the season.
The Lady Hornets rallied from a 10-run deficit to take the lead in the top of the fifth, and the district rivals went on to trade the lead a few more times before Huntland prevailed in an extra inning.
The Lady Hornets got the first run of the day in the opening inning as Bailey Morris led off the contest with a triple before Hadley Gardner drove her in with a sacrifice fly a few batters later.
However, the Raiderettes countered with a quartet of runs in the bottom half of the first to put Huntland in an early 4-1 hole.
The second inning played out similarly to the first with an RBI single from Emily Stewart in the top of the second being followed by a three-run inning from the Raiderettes to put the Lady Hornets behind by a score of 7-2 overall.
The Raiderettes went on to add another six runs to their early tally in the bottom of the third with the deficit for the day peaking at 13-2.
The Lady Hornets were able to chip away a small portion of the deficit in the top of the fourth on another RBI single from Stewart, but they still trailed 13-3 going into the fifth inning.
With the mercy rule in play going into the top of the fifth, the Lady Hornets came alive offensively with an 11-run frame to suddenly take the lead.
The scoring plays for the frame included an RBI double from Bella Smith, a two-run home run from Gardner, an RBI single from Lily Jackson, an error off the bat of Analyn Riddle which allowed Blair Finchum to score, a bases-loaded walk drawn by Morris, an RBI single from Smith, a bases-loaded walk drawn by Gardner, a two-run double from Jocy May and an RBI groundout from Finchum. The latter two plays resulted in the tying and go-ahead scores, respectively, to give the Lady Hornets a slight 14-13 advantage.
The lead wouldn’t last long as the Raiderettes scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to jump back ahead by a 15-14 margin.
However, the Lady Hornets answered back once more with a two-out, two-run single from May in the top of the sixth giving Huntland a 16-15 lead late in the contest.
The Raiderettes were able to find a tying score in the bottom of the seventh off of a sacrifice fly to send the game into extra innings tied at 16-16.
With two outs and nobody on for Huntland in the top of the eighth, Gardner reached base on an error, and May hit a two-run home run to center field three pitches later to give Huntland a late 18-16 edge.
The Raiderettes were retired in order in the bottom of the eighth as the Lady Hornets held on to win by two.
Smith pitched the first 2 1-3 innings for the Lady Hornets with four strikeouts, eight hits, five walks, six earned runs and seven unearned runs allowed.
Morris pitched the remaining 5 2-3 innings in relief with eight strikeouts, four hits, one walk, one earned run and two unearned runs allowed.
With the win, the Lady Hornets improved to 5-5 on the season and 3-2 in district play.
They will next play Tuesday at Fayetteville City High School. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
