Lady ‘Blazers Whip Science Hill for Second Straight Day; Claim Share of Big East Title
With heavy personnel losses coming off its state runner-up season of a year ago, rain-outs and bad weather have perhaps played into the hands of the retooled Daniel Boone Lady Trailblazers.
Boone dropped its first Big East Conference tilt of the season on March 19 in just its second game of the season and played only one other league contest over the next month.
Last Tuesday, the Lady ‘Blazers (6-1, 19-10) began a stretch of seven conference contests in nine days and Wednesday evening nabbed a share of the Big East title with its sixth straight league win and second in as many days over Science Hill, 9-0.
“To be where we were starting out 0-1 and losing a lot of kids we had last year, a lot of folks didn’t know what this bunch was going to do,” said Boone coach Jeremy Jenkins.
“One thing about this bunch that makes them fun to be around is they are going to compete. They are playing well at the right time and hopefully we can keep this going.”
To manage the heavy workload of the Lady ‘Blazers, Jenkins has installed an every other inning system for pitchers Ava Saul and Kyleigh Osborne which now includes catchers McKenzie Strouth and Kyleigh Bacon.
On the season, Saul has now worked 85⅔ innings and Osborne 81⅓, with both ERA’s hovering right around 2.00. When one is in the circle, the other is nearby at first base.
“They have really bought into it,” added Jenkins. “The other one plays first and stays up in the game and they pull for each other.”
When approached with the idea, Saul said it was an immediate buy-in from her and Osborne.
“We loved it at the beginning,” said Saul. “We’re both pretty good, you know what I mean, and it’s really working well for us right now as a team.”
Against the Lady ‘Toppers, the Boone battery was Saul and Strouth in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings with Osborne and Bacon working the second, fourth and sixth. Saul used 54 tosses in the game and Osborne 49.
“I think me and Ozzy were seeing a lot of pressure throughout the game so instead of throwing 120 pitches or whatever, this keeps us fresher,” added Saul.
Both allowed just one hit and struck out two in their stints. Both were also the recipient of some flashy defensive plays from Josie Jenkins at second, Riley Croley at shortstop, right-fielder Taylor Brinn and freshman Sadie Phillips in left.
“Both did a really good job filling up the strike zone and we made several really good plays behind them,” noted Jenkins.
Brinn’s RBI-groundout in the second made a winner of Osborne for the second time in league play. Saul fashions a 4-1 mark inside the conference.
In the third, Kyleigh Bacon’s three-run blast, her third homer in two days, pushed the Boone lead to 4-0.
A Saul single to right in the fourth scored Croley to make it 5-0. The Lady ‘Blazers then nearly ended the contest early with four in the sixth.
With the bases-loaded, Saul let a hittable first pitch go by before going the other way again for a single to make it 6-0.
“Ava has been taking too many good pitches early and getting behind in the count. Today, I thought, especially the last two times, when she’s hitting the ball to right-center and right field, that’s when you can really tell she’s glued in.”
Saul finished 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs driven in on the day, but lamented the one right down Suncrest she passed on.
“I should have swung at that and it was right down the middle and I missed it, I’ll tell ya I missed it,” smiled Saul. “But “I’m starting to feel a little better with my bat. I slumped a little bit at the first of the year, but it’s a team thing and we are all hitting it right now.”
Bacon just missed clearing the bases with a shot just foul down the left field line before drawing a walk to force in the seventh run. Another run scored on Anna Richardson’s fielder’s choice and a Sadie Henson single made it 9-0.
Bacon finished with four RBI’s in the game. Jenkins was nicked by a pair of pitches that rolled into her and scored both times. Croley also scored twice.
A Maddie Diamond double to open the second and an Isbella Meeks single with two out in the seventh accounted for the two Lady ‘Topper hits. Diamond in the second was the only Science Hill runner to reach scoring position.
After back-to-back games against Boone, the Lady ‘Toppers (3-3, 16-6) go to Dobyns-Bennett on both Thursday and Friday. Boone heads back to West Ridge on Thursday, where it started the week on Monday. Another win over the Lady Wolves gives the Lady ‘Blazers the outright Big East title.
Science Hill -- Chloe Conner and Makenzie Cumbow. 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 (2), McKenzie Strouth (3), Kyleigh Bacon (4), McKenzie Strouth (5), Kyleigh Bacon (6), McKenzie Strouth (7). W – Ava Saul, L – Chloe Conner. 2B - Maddie Diamond, Science Hill. HR – Kyleigh Bacon, Daniel Boone (two on in 3rd). RBI – Daniel Boone 9 (Kyleigh Bacon 4, Ava Saul 2, Sadie Henson, Taylor Brinn, Anna Richardson). SB – Daniel Boone 4 (Riley Croley, Sadie Hall, Sadie Henson).
Boone dropped its first Big East Conference tilt of the season on March 19 in just its second game of the season and played only one other league contest over the next month.
Last Tuesday, the Lady ‘Blazers (6-1, 19-10) began a stretch of seven conference contests in nine days and Wednesday evening nabbed a share of the Big East title with its sixth straight league win and second in as many days over Science Hill, 9-0.
“To be where we were starting out 0-1 and losing a lot of kids we had last year, a lot of folks didn’t know what this bunch was going to do,” said Boone coach Jeremy Jenkins.
“One thing about this bunch that makes them fun to be around is they are going to compete. They are playing well at the right time and hopefully we can keep this going.”
To manage the heavy workload of the Lady ‘Blazers, Jenkins has installed an every other inning system for pitchers Ava Saul and Kyleigh Osborne which now includes catchers McKenzie Strouth and Kyleigh Bacon.
On the season, Saul has now worked 85⅔ innings and Osborne 81⅓, with both ERA’s hovering right around 2.00. When one is in the circle, the other is nearby at first base.
“They have really bought into it,” added Jenkins. “The other one plays first and stays up in the game and they pull for each other.”
When approached with the idea, Saul said it was an immediate buy-in from her and Osborne.
“We loved it at the beginning,” said Saul. “We’re both pretty good, you know what I mean, and it’s really working well for us right now as a team.”
Against the Lady ‘Toppers, the Boone battery was Saul and Strouth in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings with Osborne and Bacon working the second, fourth and sixth. Saul used 54 tosses in the game and Osborne 49.
“I think me and Ozzy were seeing a lot of pressure throughout the game so instead of throwing 120 pitches or whatever, this keeps us fresher,” added Saul.
Both allowed just one hit and struck out two in their stints. Both were also the recipient of some flashy defensive plays from Josie Jenkins at second, Riley Croley at shortstop, right-fielder Taylor Brinn and freshman Sadie Phillips in left.
“Both did a really good job filling up the strike zone and we made several really good plays behind them,” noted Jenkins.
Brinn’s RBI-groundout in the second made a winner of Osborne for the second time in league play. Saul fashions a 4-1 mark inside the conference.
In the third, Kyleigh Bacon’s three-run blast, her third homer in two days, pushed the Boone lead to 4-0.
A Saul single to right in the fourth scored Croley to make it 5-0. The Lady ‘Blazers then nearly ended the contest early with four in the sixth.
With the bases-loaded, Saul let a hittable first pitch go by before going the other way again for a single to make it 6-0.
“Ava has been taking too many good pitches early and getting behind in the count. Today, I thought, especially the last two times, when she’s hitting the ball to right-center and right field, that’s when you can really tell she’s glued in.”
Saul finished 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs driven in on the day, but lamented the one right down Suncrest she passed on.
“I should have swung at that and it was right down the middle and I missed it, I’ll tell ya I missed it,” smiled Saul. “But “I’m starting to feel a little better with my bat. I slumped a little bit at the first of the year, but it’s a team thing and we are all hitting it right now.”
Bacon just missed clearing the bases with a shot just foul down the left field line before drawing a walk to force in the seventh run. Another run scored on Anna Richardson’s fielder’s choice and a Sadie Henson single made it 9-0.
Bacon finished with four RBI’s in the game. Jenkins was nicked by a pair of pitches that rolled into her and scored both times. Croley also scored twice.
A Maddie Diamond double to open the second and an Isbella Meeks single with two out in the seventh accounted for the two Lady ‘Topper hits. Diamond in the second was the only Science Hill runner to reach scoring position.
After back-to-back games against Boone, the Lady ‘Toppers (3-3, 16-6) go to Dobyns-Bennett on both Thursday and Friday. Boone heads back to West Ridge on Thursday, where it started the week on Monday. Another win over the Lady Wolves gives the Lady ‘Blazers the outright Big East title.
Science Hill | 000 | 000 | 0 | -- | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Daniel Boone | 013 | 104 | x | -- | 9 | 6 | 0 |
Science Hill -- Chloe Conner and Makenzie Cumbow. 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 (2), McKenzie Strouth (3), Kyleigh Bacon (4), McKenzie Strouth (5), Kyleigh Bacon (6), McKenzie Strouth (7). W – Ava Saul, L – Chloe Conner. 2B - Maddie Diamond, Science Hill. HR – Kyleigh Bacon, Daniel Boone (two on in 3rd). RBI – Daniel Boone 9 (Kyleigh Bacon 4, Ava Saul 2, Sadie Henson, Taylor Brinn, Anna Richardson). SB – Daniel Boone 4 (Riley Croley, Sadie Hall, Sadie Henson).
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