Grace Batcheller threw a one-hit shutout as Highland defeated Hillcrest 13-0 on Huskie softball opening day.
Highland's senior ace struck out five of the 10 batters she faced in the …
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Grace Batcheller threw a one-hit shutout as Highland defeated Hillcrest 13-0 on Huskie softball opening day.
Highland's senior ace struck out five of the 10 batters she faced in the three-inning victory on Tuesday.
The Huskies had a 2-0 lead when the second inning began and scored eight runs before the Ravens could record the first out of the inning.
Sarah Burton, Payton Brun, Batcheller and MyLei Smith had hits while the Huskies took advantage of two walks and a couple of errors as Highland built a 10-0 lead heading into the third.
Smith had a bases-loaded double in the third inning to end the game early. She finished 2-3 with three RBIs in the opener. Jessica Kraus was 2-3 and reached base in all three at bats. Brun was also 2-3 and scored twice.
“I think our offense is probably better than it was last year,” Highland coach Carrie Wieland said. ”We got those ten dates to do hitting and really worked on that this year and got to focus and all the girls came when they could, and that was good.”
Kinze Hora drew three walks and scored runs in the second and third innings. Sarah Burton had an RBI double in the second inning.
The Huskies open the season ranked No. 12 in 1A by the IGHSAU.
Malia Yoder’s first-inning single was the only hit of the day for the Ravens.
“I don't think we necessarily played our best for sure,” Hillcrest coach Kent Blossom said. “A lot of credit to them for keeping us off of our front foot. Grace Batcheller just throws it really well, can locate her changeup and you can see we haven't seen a whole lot of good changeups so far, or a lot of live pitching so far.”
Batcheller, who has signed with the Briar Cliff University softball program, was a first-team all-conference pitcher a season ago.
“To see someone pitching that well early in the season is a challenge for us,” Blossom said. And that kind of translated into having some defensive lapses when they put the ball in play too.
“Overall we're happy to get out of here with the game under our belt and some experience against good competition and we’ll use that for the rest of the season.”
