The Trenton Lady Bulldog softball team won their annual grudge match with the rival Chillicothe Hornets, taking an 8-3 victory on Monday night, in a varsity match-up broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7.
Trenton was the beneficiary of Chillicothe wildness early, as starting pitcher Abby Jones walked five Bulldog batters in her 1 1/3 innings of work. While missing out on a key hit to open up the lead in bunches, the Bulldogs cashed in on a first-inning sacrifice fly by McKayla Blackburn, scoring Chandler Lynch, a second inning walk to Maci Moore that scored Chloe Harris, and a fielding error by CHS third baseman Brooke Horton that scored Shay Westerhof.
Meanwhile, in the pitching circle for Trenton, Blackburn shutout Chillicothe for five innings of work, scattering two hits, as Trenton held a 3-0 lead through 4 1/2 innings.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Bulldogs doubled the advantage to 6-0, with Lynch hit by a pitch with one out. One batter later, a Blackburn single scored Lynch, who had stolen second base, with Blackburn reaching third base when the throw to the plate skipped away from Hornet catcher Lexi Walker. Teya Cooksey walked to put runners at the corner, followed by a passed ball that scored Blackburn to push the lead to 5-0. With Cooksey at second, sophomore first baseman Gracyn Rongey looked to give Trenton more breathing room. Tom Johnson had the play-by-play call:
Chillicothe, in loud fashion, swiftly cut the lead to 6-3 in the visitors 6th, with Kennedy Corzette doubling, and Sophia Luetticke doubling her home. A single by Jordan Hibner scored Luetticke, with a double by Abby Jones scoring Hibner. However, on Trenton’s throw into the infield, resulting in a one-base error, Hibner would be tagged out in a run-down between third and home, preserving Trenton’s three run lead. A pop-out and ground-out extinguished any further Hornet threat.
In the bottom of the 6th, Lynch found the left field corner to score Summer Martin and Maci Moore, pushing Trenton’s lead back to five runs (8-3):
Blackburn earned the victory, working around a lead-off walk and two out single to post a scoreless seventh, with a hard-grounder by Luetticke to Lynch resulting in a force-out at third base to end the contest.
Trenton ends the regular season with a record of 15-7, with Chillicothe at 8-9.
Other softball final scores from Monday, October 14, 2019 were:
East Buchanan 14, Albany 7
Gallatin 12, Gilman City 1
North Andrew 3, DeKalb 0
Pattonsburg 12, Winston 2
Princeton 23, East Harrison 0
Putnam County 8, North Harrison 2
Platte Valley 9, South Harrison 1
Braymer 12, Hale 0
