PsalmsG Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The Highlands Ladybirds softball team opened the season with an impressive 17-3 five-inning win Monday over the host St. Henry Lady Crusaders. Highlands outhit St. Henry, 12-10. Sophomore Bailey Spencer threw a complete game for Highlands. She struck out seven and walked just one. Shelby Graybill went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in and two runs scored to lead Highlands. She had a home run and double. Seventh-grader Rachel Gabbard and Ashley Grosser also had two hits each for Highlands. Grosser had a double and two runs batted in and Gabbard scored once and plated a run. Kendall Turner followed with a home run and three RBIs with Whitney Quillen tripling in two. Payton Leighty added two runs batted in for the Ladybirds. Teresa Urban, Carlie Roark, Molly Dietz and Carlie Townsend had two hits each for the Lady Crusaders. Kramer took the pitching loss. Highlands does not play again until Thursday. The Ladybirds face Newport Central Catholic on their new field at 6 p.m. Fort Thomas Sports: Highlands softball opens year with bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMU31 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The Highlands Ladybirds softball team opened the season with an impressive 17-3 five-inning win Monday over the host St. Henry Lady Crusaders. Highlands outhit St. Henry, 12-10. Sophomore Bailey Spencer threw a complete game for Highlands. She struck out seven and walked just one. Shelby Graybill went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in and two runs scored to lead Highlands. She had a home run and double. Seventh-grader Rachel Gabbard and Ashley Grosser also had two hits each for Highlands. Grosser had a double and two runs batted in and Gabbard scored once and plated a run. Kendall Turner followed with a home run and three RBIs with Whitney Quillen tripling in two. Payton Leighty added two runs batted in for the Ladybirds. Teresa Urban, Carlie Roark, Molly Dietz and Carlie Townsend had two hits each for the Lady Crusaders. Kramer took the pitching loss. Highlands does not play again until Thursday. The Ladybirds face Newport Central Catholic on their new field at 6 p.m. Fort Thomas Sports: Highlands softball opens year with bang HHS isn't messing around this year... Looks like it could be a long year for the Cru.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenR Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Inside the park homers: Last pitch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtruck Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 "Looks like it could be a long year for the Cru.... " I think it will be a long beginning of the year for sure. However, when a couple of girls come back and get some playing time they might surprise some. They had 10 hits against a good pitcher in the first four innings with three good bats not playing. Improved baserunning and defense will make a big difference. Time is on their side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatpuppy Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 "Looks like it could be a long year for the Cru.... " I think it will be a long beginning of the year for sure. However, when a couple of girls come back and get some playing time they might surprise some. They had 10 hits against a good pitcher in the first four innings with three good bats not playing. Improved baserunning and defense will make a big difference. Time is on their side. Also their deep fences hurt them. With bases loaded a shot was hit and on a field with 200ft fences its an easy grand slam. At the time the score was 2-0 Birds. Good defense held them to one run on that hit. a 4-2 lead would definitely have switched momentum. I still believe HHS would have won but the score didn't show how close it could have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawildcat Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Shout out to 7th grader Rachael Gabbard on her 1st varsity start! Proud mama and papa, I'm sure! Go Birds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruBatBoy Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 And the 2 inside the park HRs you guys hit would have been well over the 200ft fence as well. So sort of a double edged sword. But chicks dig the long ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatpuppy Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Shout out to 7th grader Rachael Gabbard on her 1st varsity start! Proud mama and papa, I'm sure! Go Birds! She had her first hit and rbi as well!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qryche11 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Congrats to the LadyBirds. Way to go Kendell Turner with the HR !!! She should have a big year at the plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O boy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Nice win for the Birds! I really think St. Henry has a good thing going over there. Surprised by the margin a little. It's early! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal101 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Nice win for the Birds! I really think St. Henry has a good thing going over there. Surprised by the margin a little. It's early! Could be a long year for St. Henry. Starting out 0-3 and run ruled in each contest and schedule does not get any easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtruck Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Injuries are not ever a good excuse but their top two pitchers have been out, which explains to some degree the run ruled games. Out of 17 innings, 12 have been pitched by their third pitcher who has really never thrown before. She is a great player and has done a good job considering. They have faced Spencer, Simms and Thacker in the three games and have hit pretty well. I think better things will be on the horizon if/once health is regained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal101 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Injuries are not ever a good excuse but their top two pitchers have been out, which explains to some degree the run ruled games. Out of 17 innings, 12 have been pitched by their third pitcher who has really never thrown before. She is a great player and has done a good job considering. They have faced Spencer, Simms and Thacker in the three games and have hit pretty well. I think better things will be on the horizon if/once health is regained. I thought Jordan Kramer pitched this year and is a junior with experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruBatBoy Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 I thought Jordan Kramer pitched this year and is a junior with experience. Jordan started/pitched parts of the first 2 games but had an injured a quad before 1st game. She has been playing thru the pain as best as she could but has been shut down for at least a week now. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal101 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Jordan started/pitched parts of the first 2 games but had an injured a quad before 1st game. She has been playing thru the pain as best as she could but has been shut down for at least a week now. Thanks I hope she gets healthy quick. She would be a help to any team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts