Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Wolves Counter Hackett Surge
LINCOLN MOVES INTO SOFTBALL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
GREENLAND — Lincoln countered a 3- run rally by Hackett that tied Saturday’s semifinal by pushing five runs across in the fifth to pull away and advance to Monday’s regional championship.
The Lady Wolves doubled up the score in defeating Hackett, 10-5, to earn a title shot against Booneville in the Class 3A Region 1 softball tournament at Greenland.
Lincoln lead- off batter Ryleigh Landrum went 4- for- 4 producing timely hits. She kick- started Lincoln’s counter rally by sending a fly ball into right center where it was dropped by the Lady Hornets. Brinkley Moreton drew a walk on four straight pitches from travel ball teammate, Mackenzie Freeman, who is well acquainted with Moreton’s power at the plate.
Saylor Stidham put together a quality at- bat showing bunt on an 0- 1 count. The resulting passed ball allowed both runners to advance into scoring position. Landrum scored on another passed ball with the count even at 1-1 to restore Lincoln into the lead at 5-4. Stidham eventually walked placing runners at the corners.
Mackenzie Freeman struck out Amber Bryant and Lily Riherd but yielded a single to Kristine Rhine, driving in an insurance run to give the Lady Wolves a 6-4 advantage.
Lincoln seized the opportunity aided by Hackett miscues. Addie Pershall reached on an error, scoring a run.
Stepping into the batter’s box next was junior Ashlyn Khilling, who was inserted into the lineup after senior Alexandra Torres got ejected following a collision at the plate while attempting to score in the second inning. Khilling drove a dagger into Hackett’s hopes by belting a two-run double extending Lincoln’s cushion to a fiverun lead at 9-4.
Khilling keeps herself sharp in the dugout by telling herself, “I would do anything for my team.” She reminds herself she’s got to stay focused and got to know everything that’s going on in the game at all times so when Lincoln coach Brittany Engel called on her, Khilling was ready.
“We had Ashlynn Khilling, who stepped up after Alex got ejected and I mean she got an out and then she came in and she hit a ball that scored some runs. She came in and did her job the best she could do it and it was pretty awesome to see especially in that high pressure situation for her to come in and make things happen so props to Ashlynn for that,” Engel said.
Khilling could hardly contain her excitement over feeling part of the victory and her JV teammates let her know they took pride in the achievements.
Landrum led off the sixth with a single and scooted around the bases on passed balls with Moreton and Stidham batting. Neither got on base, but Landrum scored her fourth run of the day, providing Lincoln a 10-4 lead.
In Hackett’s final at-bat, Macke n z ie Freeman doubled into left center in the seventh. A Lincoln error enabled her to go to third and she scored on Sarah White’s RBI single to make the final 10-5.
Moreton did her thing, ending the game on a strikeout to get out of a jam with the bases loaded after she hit a batter with a pitch. Moreton allowed eight hits while striking out 11 to pick up her fourth postseason win as a freshman.
“Her pitching performance is always excellent and the thing is it doesn’t matter how many pitches she ends up having to throw or how many teams foul balls off on her, she’s always locked in and ready to go whereas a lot of pitchers get tired. She’s not one of those pitchers that gets worn out and she still consistently hits the zone. Yeah, it’s great having her for sure,” Engel said.
Lincoln jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third inning as Landrum singled, Bryant walked and Riherd stroked a double to center, driving in both runners.
Hackett surged in the fifth. Shayla Foster led off the inning with a single, but with two outs Mackenzie Freeman singled plating Foster. Lincoln committed two errors, both of which allowed a run to score, the second of which combined with Alona Rothwell’s RBI single evening the score at 4-4.
Mackenzie Freeman was charged with the loss. She allowed 10 hits and struck out nine.
“It was a hard- fought battle. We made too many mistakes. The team that made the fewest mistakes won. There’s a reason they’ve been ranked No. 2 all season. We really wanted to win that game. Hopefully we get another shot at them. All of our goals are still in front of us. We can still win state if we play our game,” said Hackett coach Jeff Oxford.