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The Hornets celebrate the second of Kaylee Burnett's home runs in the April 7 home double-header.

Hornet softball team splits with Hutchinson
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: April 09, 2015

The Valley Center High School softball team committed costly errors to drop the opener to Hutchinson April 7 and used every minute of the nightcap to even the score against the visitors.

Valley Center split the non-league home double-header, losing 14-5 and winning 4-3.

"It was nice to fight back," said Hornet coach Corey Jones. "We got beat pretty good in the first. … We just didn't get off to a good start, and Hutch put it in play."

The Hornets are 2-2, all non-league games, and will host Andover Central April 14.

"I'm OK with where we are as long as we get better," Jones said. "We can't get down 7-0 and 7-1 because we're making errors. … I don't think anybody is good enough to overcome five errors. We have to play good softball to beat good softball teams."

In the opener against Hutch, the Salthhawks got onto Valley starter Kaylee Burnett quickly, plating three runs in the first inning.

Burnett helped herself a little in the bottom of the first with a two-out double. Her pinch runner ended up scoring on an Elena Turner double to center field.

After a scoreless second, Hutch poured it on in the third, taking a 7-1 lead on four hits and two Hornet errors.

Hutchinson added four in the fourth for an 11-1 lead.

Burnett got another RBI in the fifth, knocking in Taylor Rowley, who singled to center field.

Hutchinson extended its lead to 14-2 with a three-run sixth.

A three-run home run by Burnett in the final inning, scoring Rowley and Ashlyn Jacobs, accounted for the final score. Valley finished the game with bases loaded.

"Hutchinson just put a lot of runs on the board," Jones said. "… Offensively, we had 11 hits. It's not like we struggled. We just didn't get timely hitting."

Latalyah Perez had two hits and Burnett had three for the Hornets. Rowley scored two runs.

Burnett struck out four but gave up 17 hits and seven earned runs to take the loss.

In the second game, Jacobs got the win in the circle, as the Hornets secured victory in dramatic fashion.

Jones mixed up the defense for the nightcap, and it appeared to work. He moved Rowley to short stop, Burnett to third and Hannah Headley to the outfield.

"I told the girls I'm going to go with what works," Jones said.

After three scoreless innings, Hutchinson took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a hit, two errors and two walks.

The Hornets quickly tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Rowley started with a double to center field and Burnett hit her second home run of the double-header, a two-run blast to right field.

Valley left two runners on base in the fourth.

The Hornets added a run in the fifth when Rowley homered to left field, her first of the season.

Hutch tied the game in the sixth.

Still knotted in the bottom of the seventh, Jacobs singled with one out and Ashley Thorne hit a shot to center field with two outs to advance Jacobs to second.

Winning the game, Burnett singled to left field to score Abby Meyer, who was running for Jacobs.

Jacobs gave up four hits and walked three.

Thorne finished the game with three hits. Burnett had two hits and three RBIs. Rowley also had two hits.

Junior varsity — The Valley Center JV team split its first two games of the season March 31, beating Hays 6-5 and losing to Derby 10-0.

"We got the first-game jitters out of the way beating a Hays team that was previously unbeaten through four games early in the season," Hornet coach David Friess said. "We didn't play a very good game, but got it done when we needed to and ultimately that's what counts. The girls showed a lot of resolve to not give up late in the game. In the nightcap against Derby, we struggled to put the ball in play and consequently did not score against a fundamentally sound team. Tonight showed us that we are capable of doing some good things, but also gave us insight to what we need to get better at."

Against Hays, Valley Center was down 2-0 in the fourth, but came back to tie it in the fifth. Hays went ahead 4-2 in the sixth inning, but Valley Center was up to the task, scoring four runs in the bottom half for a 6-4 lead.

Alora Klinkhammer got the win, pitching a complete game with 14 strikeouts and no walks.

Alex Sparks, Ashlyn Joyal and Reagan Fischer each had a hit for the Hornets.

Against Derby, Valley Center trailed 6-0 in the second inning and couldn't get anything going offensively.

Lily Bolte and Klinkhammer pitched for the Hornets.

Kylee Fink and Emma Meyer each had a hit.






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