Aubria Myers hustles into second.
The Lady Diamond Hornets of Lower Richland High School handily defeated the Lady Redhawks Friday by a score of 14-3 in a rematch which only went six innings.
Westwood head coach Kristina Rendle said she expected a win.
“It would be great for the girls, especially for the seniors,” Rendle said. “We have definitely improved throughout the season. We are an entirely different team from what we were early in the season. All around improvements have been made fielding-wise, error-wises, and in our hitting.”
Coach Rendle didn’t get the win, but the improvements were clearly there.
Seniors playing their last high school game are Asia Boulware, Kiana Bennett, Charity Corley and Ashly Ozuna.
In the first inning four Redhawks got on base. Samantha Hall, Madison Anderson and Charity Corley each singled and Shontera Boyd walked. Hall was tagged attempting to steal third. Beaudry sent one into left field, but it was caught for the second out. Ozuna struck out, retiring the side with two runners on base. The Diamonds would benefit from a passed ball, three singles, an error and a sacrifice fly to bring four runners across home plate for a four-run lead after the first inning.
Lower Richland pitcher Ashlyn Jolley was injured stealing second. As she slid into the base, her knee was badly cut by the cleat of the second-baseman. Her place was taken by another runner while her knee was treated. The plucky pitcher took the pitching circle the next inning and finished the game, although in obvious pain at times.
The second inning for the Diamonds would be a repeat of the first with four runs scoring. Krista Beaudry struck out three in the second inning, two swinging and one looking.
The fourth inning was the high water mark for the Redhawks. The first batter was thrown out at first. What should have been an easy out for the Diamonds ended up being a single for Westwood as Bianca Aytch took first base. A passed ball allowed Aytch to advance to second. Monisha Robinson hit a single, bringing in Aytch. Beaudry put one into the gap for a double, scoring Robinson. A High pop fly by Corley brought in Beaudry making it a three-run inning for the Redhawks.
The fourth inning, while a good one for the Redhawks, would be even better for the Diamonds, as they scored four runs. The next two innings would be three-up, three-down for Westwood with four batters striking out. The bottom of the fifth would be scoreless for Lower Richland, but in the sixth inning, the Diamonds scored the two runs they needed for the 10-run rule to end the game one inning early. The winning pitcher was Jolley and the losing pitcher was Beaudry.
