The Chillicothe Hornets were locked in a battle against the Cameron Dragons throughout Tuesday evenings contest at Cameron High School. Chillicothe went ahead in the first inning 1-0 after Tori Stoner reached third base on a deep hit to left field. The next batter up was Jolie Bonderer who batted Stoner home for the opening run of the game. Those two would play a pivotal role in the Hornets victory in the late stages of the contest. In the meantime, Cameron was quick to answer and tie the game up at one run apiece after Ally Evans scored for Cameron in the bottom of the first. However, for the next 5 innings, neither team was able to get any more runs across home plate. Pitching was excellent for both the Hornets and Dragons, as Landry Marsh had 6 strikeouts and allowed just one run pitching the complete game in the win. On the Dragons side, Hanna Pritchett did all the pitching for Cameron and finished with four strikeouts.
With strong defense and pitching being the theme of the game, the score was tied 1-1 heading into the 7th inning. That is when the offense began buzzing for the Hornets, Bryleigh Gillespie got on base with an infield single. Charley Peniston advanced her to 3rd base with a sacrifice bunt, then Landry Marsh was walked and stole 2nd to set up Tori Stoner at the plate with 2 outs and 2 runners in scoring position. Down to her final strike, Stoner cracked a ball straight down the 3rd base line and into left field scoring both runners. The double from Stoner brought Bonderer up to the plate who hit the hardest ball of the night all the way to the fence in right center field allowing Stoner to score. This sequence gave the Hornets a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th where Chillicothe’s defense closed things out giving the team a 4-1 victory over MEC rival Cameron.
The Hornets improve to an 8-6 record overall, 2-0 in the Midland Empire Conference and will play Savannah Thursday night at home in Danner Park.
