Eighth grader Taylor Slade pitched a no-hitter and her teammates did enough offensively and defensively as the Western Hills Lady Wolverines eased past the Frankfort Lady Panthers 12-0 in a district softball game Tuesday at Capitol View Park.
Slade walked just one batter and struck out seven as WHHS improved to 9-6.
“Taylor did a good job,” Western Hills coach Jeff Pritchett said of Slade, who shares mound duties this spring with junior Brooklyn Etherington and freshman Torey Hawkins. “They had a lot of trouble putting the bat on the ball until a little bit later on. Taylor did a good job hitting her spots, and she had a little velocity late.
“It was exciting to have her back in the rotation.”
“We’re better than that,” Frankfort coach Angie Hutcherson said. “We were a little over anxious today, I think.”
The Lady Wolverines sprayed nine hits against Frankfort High pitcher Kayla Hortenbury.
Western Hills set the tone right out of the gate, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning.
“That hurt us to come out and let them score four runs because then you kind of get your heads down a little bit,” Hutcherson said.
The Lady Wolverines added six runs in the second inning and two in the fourth.
McKenna Brown led the WHHS offense with four singles. Abbey Sheets hit two singles, Etherington had a triple and Slade singled.
Pritchett hopes Tuesday’s showing is a positive step towards a trend that prepares the Lady Wolverines for post-season play.
“The bottom line is we came back a little sluggish from spring break, but we are starting to pick it up and head in the right direction,” he said. “Now we just have to continue improving and try to get ready for the post-season because it’s going to be here before you know it.”
Western Hills hosts Shelby County on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers have been stuck on three wins for more than week, and the short term road doesn’t get any easier for Hutcherson’s team. Frankfort plays at Tates Creek today and then plays at Franklin County on Thursday.
Franklin County beat Frankfort 20-0 a week ago.
“This is a tough stretch for us,” Hutcherson said. “But we’ll be okay.”
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