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Fast Start: Orange softball strikes early, rolls past Salem into region semifinals

On Thursday, Orange County softball hosted Salem in Region 4D Quarterfinal action, looking to advance to move one step closer to a state tournament berth.

 

With help from multiple Hornets, the team did just that, powering their way to a 7-0 victory over Salem, led by one huge performance from Hannah Hearl in the cricle where she threw six shutout innings and struck out 11.

 

“We wanted to come into this game like we wanted to win and everybody’s enthusiasm helped me pitch better to help us win this game,” Hearl said.

 

Orange didn’t waste much time either, striking in the first inning with a Ja’chelle Mosley RBI single and Haley Martin scoring on a wild pitch. The Hornets found themselves with an early 2-0 advantage. Mosley went 1-for-3 with an RBI single on the day.

 

Orange expanded its lead in the second inning with Martin putting up a big two RBI triple to help put Orange solidly in front 4-0.  Martin finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs, the triple and a run scored.

 

While the Hornets’ offense kept putting up runs, Hearl dominated the start of the game at pitcher, striking out eight Salem batters in the first three innings. The offense kept providing more support too, with RBI singles from Jessy Reynolds and Raniya Bright helping give Orange a 7-0 lead after three innings.

 

Those seven runs of support were all the Hornets’ pitching staff would need, as Hearl went six shutout innings before Martin came on in the seventh to close things out and secure the region quarterfinal victory.

 

In the semifinal matchup that the Hornets will host, their opponent will be a very familiar one as they face Louisa County.

 

“We know each other well, this will be the third time around, two really good teams and we’ve battled all year long, we won 0-1 one time and 4-2 the other time and both of those games could’ve gone either way,” said Hornets Coach Neal Ferguson.  “Their pitcher is pitching outstanding right now and we’ll see what our young ladies are made of Friday night.”

 

Originally scheduled for Friday, due to inclement weather, the Region 4D semifinal matchup between the Lions and Hornets has been moved to Monday night at Orange.

 

 

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