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Logan Cooper attempts to bunt her way to first base. Photo by Sam McClanahan
By Sam McClanahan
The Pendleton County Ladycats faced a busy week of competition as the team took on four opponents coming away with two wins.
The week began with a March 27 home matchup against Fleming County and Pendleton County would score a 7-3 victory at Moreland Field. Senior Kayley Bruener would dazzle from inside the pitcher's circle as she threw a complete game and totaled 16 strikeouts. Logan Cooper, Hannah Spaulding, and Avery Himes would each collect two hits each to lead the hitting attack.
On March 29, the Ladycats would host Lafayette High, a club that was ranked in the preseason top 10 state rankings. Bruener would once again pitch for Pendleton County and she would notch 11 more strikeouts. However, Lafayette would take advantage of a couple of fielding miscues and leave Falmouth with a 4-1 win. Lafayette would break open a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning to put three runs across the plate to seize the win. Ladycats sophomore Madison Verst went a perfect 3-3 from the plate and Aubrey Mullins would have the lone RBI.
On April 1, Pendleton County hosted a doubleheader beginning with a noon matchup against Dixie Heights. In this contest, defensive errors would once again prove to be costly for the Ladycats as they fell behind early and would go onto fall 6-1. Spaulding would pitch for the Ladycats and record nine strikeouts. Dixie Heights pitching would limit Pendleton County to just three hits in the loss.
Later in the afternoon, the Ladycats would respond in a big way by outlasting Kings OH in a 15-12 slugfest. The Ladycats overcame a 6-2 deficit to rally for the win. Pendleton County also took advantage of five errors by Kings High to convert into scoring opportunities. Freshman Mylie Honnert would go 3-5 at the plate with three runs driven in. Senior Kylie Richardson also had a pair of RBI's and Kayley Bruener would score four times. Hannah Spaulding would pick up 10 more strikeouts in earning the win.
"We had a bit of a rough week dealing with some minor injuries and sickness. We started to bounce back in our game versus Kings this weekend. We are still finding our groove. We had a lot of positives to take from this week though, our defense is starting to work well together and our bats started to wake up versus Kings. Hannah and Kayley both pitched really well for us this week and we had some big defense plays this week as well. Lots of positives and still lots of work to do," said Ladycats head coach Jessica Verst.
This week, Pendleton County will travel to face Bishop Brossart on April 4, followed by home games against Owen County on April 6 and a April 7 clash against fifth-ranked Daviess County.