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Ladycats eighth grade pitcher Hannah Spaulding shut down Bracken County with a career-high 15 strikeouts. Photo by Lisa Cooper -
Sophomore Madison Verst was all smiles after hitting her first varsity home run on March 20. Photo provided by Haley Verst
By: Sam McClanahan
The Pendleton County Ladycats received three outstanding pitching outings from the duo of Kayley Bruener and Hannah Spaulding that saw the team collect a pair of home victories.
The team began their week with a March 20 road matchup at Cooper and fell 8-7. After jumping ahead early, defensive mistakes would end up costing Pendleton County the win as Cooper rallied in the late innings to steal the victory. Bruener turned in a quality start from the pitcher's circle as she threw six innings allowing just one earned run while striking out 10 batters. The Ladycats offense would be led by sophomore Madison Verst who smashed her first varsity home run on her way to a three-hit performance. Fellow sophomore Logan Cooper also collected three hits while also causing havoc on the basepaths as she picked up three stolen bases. Bruener would finish with a pair of RBI's.
On March 21, the Ladycats hosted Bracken County and eighth grade starting pitcher Hannah Spaulding would assert herself as the dominate player on the field as she pitched the finest outing of her young varsity career. Spaulding pitched a complete-game one hit shutout and struke out a staggering 15 hitters as the Ladycats cruised to a 6-0 win. Pendleton County would be led offensively by Bruener as she doubled twice and drove in five runs. Junior Reagan Anderson finished a perfect 3-3 at the plate and scored twice while Verst added a pair of hits. Junior catcher Maddy Musk tripled to score a run and freshman Mylie Honnert also collected a base hit.
Pendleton County wrapped up their week on March 23 by hosting Conner and with Bruener pitching the team made quick work of the Lady Cougars as they ran away with a 12-0 win in five innings. Bruener pitched a no-hitter and yielded just one walk while racking up 12 strikeouts on 76 total pitches. Seven different Ladycats collected hits as Bruener nearly hit for the cycle in clubbing her second home run of the season to go with a triple and single while also driving in four runs. Verst finished with two hits that included a double to go with three RBI's. Honnert and Aubrey Mullins would also hit doubles in the victory and Spaulding scored three runs.
"In our game against Cooper it was probably the first time our had really seen any action to this point. But we'll continue to improve and get better. We have a lot of moving parts so it will take some time for them to mesh together. Kayley Bruener is off to a great start in her senior season," said Ladycats head coach Jessica Verst.
Pendleton County hosts Fleming County on March 27 followed by a March 29 home showdown with state powerhouse Lafayette before traveling north to take on Highlands on March 30. They'll wrap up the week on April 1 hosting Dixie Heights and Kings (OH) in a doubleheader. All home games are played at Moreland Field, located next to Miracle Point Playground.