Held scoreless in two losses Saturday, the Harlan County offense broke out in a big way at home Monday with a 21-hit explosion in a 15-5 six-inning win over visiting Barbourville.
“We’ve been stressing to the girls that we have to get the hits and get people on base,” Harlan County coach Shelby Burton said. “We had a lot of girls step today. I think we have to learn to be more patient and not try to kill the ball. We need to let the ball come to us and make contact. If we can do that, our bodies will do the best.”
Riley Maggard led the HCHS offense with a triple and four singles in five at bats. Jenna Wilson added four singles. Halanah Shepherd, Maddy Blair and Brittleigh Estep contributed three singles each. Jade Burton had a three-run inside-the-park homer and a single. Halle Raleigh added one single.
Estep earned her first win on the mound, holding Barbourville hitless through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. She gave up five runs on three hits in 4 1/3 innings, with six strikeouts and five walks. Blair recorded the final five outs with one strikeout and one walk.
“I’ve been wanting to push her outside the box a little,” Burton said. “I know she got a little tired, but I have no complaints. I thought Bebe held her own tonight. This was something we needed to see from her.”
The 3-8 Lady Bears travel to Know Central on Tuesday. Barbourville fell to 0-9 with the loss and will play at Bell County on Tuesday.
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Barbourville 000 050 — 5. 3. 6
Harlan County 223 35 — 15. 21. 2
McDonald and Aimee Woolum; Estep, Blair (5) and Burton. WP— Estep (1-2). LP — Woolum. HR — Burton.