The Chillicothe Lady Hornets Softball team swept through the competition and won the Putnam County Tournament Championship.
Chillicothe opened with a 12-1 win over Highland High School. The Lady The Lady Hornets scored five runs in the second and four in the third inning to open a big lead. Mika Hibner had three hits and six RBI in the win. Kinlei Boley and Halle Rucker held Highland to just three hits.
In the second game, Chillicothe jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and beat Putnam County 9 to 1. Kirsten Dunn had a home run, a single, three RBI and scored two runs in the game. Sophia Luetticke and Hope Helton also had two hits each.
In the third game the Lady Hornets scored 16 runs off 17 hits and beat South Harrison 16 to 0 in four innings. Seven Lady Hornets had hits, led by Luetticke with a double and three singles. Hope Helton had a triple and four RBI with Mika Hibner with a triple, a single and four RBI. Kinlei Boley, Halle Rucker and Hadley Beemer combined to throw a two-hit shut out.
In the Championship game Chillicothe scored one in the first, three in the fourth and five in the sixth to beat Kirksville 9 to 0
Five Chillicothe players had multiple hits in the game, led by Dunn with four singles. Four other Chillicothe players had one hit. Boley pitched the entire game, earning the two-hit shut out.
Coach Lee Rucker said: “This was a great day of softball for our girls. It was a day where the team played together really well and everyone contributed.
I thought we could win the tournament but I would not have predicted the margins of victory. Our hitting was impressive today and the pitching and defense was outstanding.”
