YSE File Photo
Shaniyah Straight socked her second home run of the season and hit one of seven Hopkinsville High School doubles Monday, as the Tiger softball team held off visiting Hopkins County Central 16-15 in a seven-inning slugfest.
Straight, who finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs, put Hoptown up for good with a two-out, two-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth that gave HHS a 14-13 advantage. The long ball came after Hannah Thorson kept the rally alive with a two-run double that plated Jakayla Grubbs and Faith Dansbury to cut the Storm lead to 13-12.
In a 2nd Region contest that featured a slew of crooked numbers, it was Hopkinsville that ultimately took care of business and won for the third time in its last four games. Hopkins Central scored twice in its last at-bat, and had a pair of runners on with two outs, but Thorson got Amelia Johnson to ground out to the second baseman to end the dramatic affair.
Thorson (3-8) threw north of 140 pitches in the victory. She struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings and returned to finish the game after Straight gave up two walks and five runs in relief. The Tigers were able to hang on despite committing eight defensive errors. The eight-run fifth inning, capped by Straight’s clutch home run, was the turning point in the game.
Mallory Higgins, who was one of three Storm players to log a multi-hit game, went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and gave HCCHS an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first. Hopkins Central proceeded to draw a walk and have two batters hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, leading to a 4-0 Hoptown hole.
The Tigers (6-13) responded in their first at-bat, though, tying the game at 4-all when Daijha Owen placed a sharp grounder into left field for a two-out, RBI double that scored Esther Pepple. Hopkins County Central later went up by as much as seven runs (13-6 in the top of the fifth) before Hopkinsville roared back.
Grubbs (2-for-5, three runs, RBI) and Owen (4-for-4, two runs, RBI) each had two doubles in the offensive onslaught. Taylor Joachim added two RBIs, Thorson went 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs, and Kaitlyn Kaetzel scored twice. Keira Bryan (1-11) gave up nine hits and 10 runs in the circle for the visitors.
Monday’s home game was the first of four straight at Tiger Field for Hopkinsville, which wraps up its regular season this week with matchups against Dawson Springs (May 12), Russellville (May 13) and Paducah’s Community Christian (May 14).
