You got to give it to Hopkinsville’s Shaniyah Straight. She is pitching with an injury that would seem just impossible to pitch with, as least comfortably, and Tuesday night she pitched pretty well.
Straight gave up just one run in seven innings of work as Hopkinsville ran past University Heights 7-1 in an 8th District matchup. Straight gave up just six hits, struck out five, and walked only one in leading the Lady Tigers to the win.
Her battery mate Taylor Joachim also gets some credit for pushing through some pain. Joachim took a foul ball off a finger on her throwing hand that knocked off a chunk of her finger nail, which had to make playing catcher for the rest of the game a battle, one that she pushed through and won.
The game was a scoreless contest until the top of the third. Hopkinsville used three singles and a UHA error to score three runs in the inning. The inning was costly to the Lady Blazers in another fashion as well. Starting second baseman Amaryia Bass was injured in a collision as she attempted to cover first base and would not return to the game.
The Lady Blazers got a run back in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 3-1.
Hopkinsville got some insurance in the top of the fourth, scoring two runs. An RBI single from Daijha Owen Morand and an RBI double from Shaniyah Straight were the big hits in the inning.
Taylor Joachim added an RBI double and Abby Straight an RBI single in the top of the sixth.
Shaniyah Straight was 2-3 for the Lady Tigers with two doubles, two RBIs, and a run scored. Daijha Owen Morand, Taylor Joachim, and Ruby Duskey also had two hits each for Hopkinsville (3-3), who rapped out 13 hits in the game.
Krista Keller finished 2-3 for UHA (0-2) with a double. Katherine Wood was 2-3. Madison Williams was 1-3 with a run scored.
Mallory Ladd went the distance for UHA in the circle, giving up seven runs, six of them earned, on 13 hits, striking out 5 and walking two.
The win was the third in the last four games for the Lady Tigers.
