After facing stout competition in the Greater Kansas City Tournament and beginning the season 2-3, last years Class 3 State Runners Up have responded with two victories this week to improve to over .500 on the season. First, the Lady Hornets beat Kirksville 7-5 in the home opener, and then on Tuesday night, exploded in a 21-6 win over East Buchanan on the road.
KCHI was on hand live to get our first glimpse of the 2023 Chillicothe softball team and the Lady Hornets did not disappoint. To begin the game, Freshman pitcher Landry Marsh drove a ball deep into right field to advance all the way to 3rd base. A couple batters later, Tori Stoner was walked which began the scoring onslaught for Chillicothe. Consecutive RBIs from Hope Donoho, Jolie Bonderer, Hadley Beemer, Ellie Acree, and Adra Stretch made the score 6-0 midway through the first inning. The Lady Hornets would allow just one run in the first inning and add nine more themselves in the 2nd to go up 15-1 and never look back, ultimately taking the contest 21-6 in 4 innings of play.
The hitting clinic continued throughout the entirety of the game. The following players for Chillicothe all finished the night with a perfect 1.000 batting average, at least two hits and an RBI: Donoho, Bonderer, Beemer, Acree, Stretch, Molly Kennebeck, Hallie Maberry, Hayden Hansen, and Bryleigh Gillespie.
The pitching and defense was also stellar on the night. Marsh pitched for 3 innings allowing just one run. The Lady Hornets are back in action Thursday night at home against Lawson, first pitch set for 5:00 PM.