HILLSBORO: Softball team nabs first wins of season
The Hillsboro Lady Trojans posted their first two victories of 2003 Tuesday evening, sweeping visiting 4A school Nickerson during a home doubleheader.
April Funk led off the first game of the afternoon by hitting a double to get on base. She later scored to give Hillsboro an early 1-0 lead, which Nickerson countered in the third to tie the game at 1-1.
A tight pitching game for both sides yielded few hits, but the Lady Trojans busted out the bats when it counted — in the bottom of the seventh. Emily Ratzlaff started the inning by reaching first base on an errors, and then pitcher Marissa Diener hit a single to put two Trojan runners on base.
Finally Laci Frantz stepped up to the plate and smashed a double that sent in both Ratzlaff and Diener to score, claiming the 3-1 victory for Hillsboro.
Diener had a stellar outing on the mound, allowing just two hits.
In game two, the third inning proved to be the overwhelming factor for Hillsboro. They took a 7-3 lead into the final inning, and Nickerson could only manage two in the top of the seventh, which wasn't enough to force extra innings. Hillsboro won 7-5.
Smoky Valley
Last Thursday at Lindsborg, Hillsboro fell to Smoky Valley in two games: 7-5, 3-2. Further information was unavailable at press time.
Haven
Two very different games yielded similar results for the Lady Trojans on April 16 as they dropped two at Haven.
In game one, Hillsboro managed four hits and two runs against Haven. The Wildcats drove in eight to defeat Hillsboro 8-2.
The Trojans' big inning came in the fifth. While down 3-0, Sara Hamm started the inning with a single, and one out later, Diener got on base with a single of her own. Both players were driven in by Nikki Streeter and Frantz to make the game 3-2.
But they couldn't stop the five more runs that Haven delivered in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings.
Pitching for Hillsboro, Diener struck out five and walked one.
Game two had much brighter beginnings for Hillsboro. Frantz, Danielle Goossen, and Ratzlaff drove in base hits while Frantz and Goossen crossed the plate for an early 2-0 lead. By the end of the second, Haven had caught up with two more but Hillsboro added another of its own, taking a 3-2 lead into the third.
Hillsboro doubled its runs in the third inning as Ratzlaff, Diener, and Funk all scored to take a 6-2 lead.
The sixth inning proved pivotal. In the top of the inning Goossen scored to take a 7-4 lead, but Haven rallied in the bottom of the sixth for four straight runs before getting their first out. That was due to some costly errors by Hillsboro, who would come away with 11 total errors before the game ended. Haven got one more runner through to take an 9-7 lead — and the win.
Hillsboro's pitchers fell hard that game, with starter Laura Lindsay striking out just one and Diener, who came in as reliever, striking out none.
Results of last Thursday's games against Smoky Valley weren't available at press time.
