HOPE — A game that took 12 days to resume needed less than 30 minutes to complete.
Hauser led Southwestern (Shelby) 8-0 when play was suspended in the bottom of the third inning because of rain and lighting April 28. Wednesday afternoon, the Class A No. 3 Jets tacked on seven more runs and finished with a 15-0, five-inning Mid-Hoosier Conference win.
“The mindset was, ‘We were going to do this.’ We had it down, and we were going to push,” freshman second baseman Shelby Fugate said.
“It was one of our better games where we’ve hit.”
Fugate went 4 for 4 with three RBIs to lead a 19-hit attack for the Jets (16-3, 8-0). All 19 hits were singles, and most were either infield or bunt singles.
Leadoff batter Mykenzie Ault went 4 for 5 with two RBIs. All four of her hits were either infield or bunt singles.
“We just came prepared, and we were ready to win,” Ault said. “We got the ball down (on bunts and slap-hits) and got it over with quickly.”
Hailey Lange went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Hunter Crain went 2 for 2, and Lauryn Starnes and Ali Hoover each went 2 for 3. Sydney Schoen and Nichole Paetzel each had two RBIs.
Meanwhile, Crain threw a four-hitter in earning the shutout.
“I thought they came out ready to play,” Hauser coach Craig Sims said.
“It’s an easy situation when you’re up 8-0 to start a game, but I felt like they came out and took care of business the way they should take care of business.”
The Jets are hoping to get healthy before the start of the Rising Sun Sectional on May 22. Tessa Sims, who already had given up pitching for the year because of shoulder problems, had been on a tear hitting the ball, but rolled an ankle in Tuesday’s 5-4, eight-inning win at Trinity Lutheran.
Also, freshman shortstop and leadoff batter Katie Taylor has been battling rib fracture. She originally was slated to miss about three weeks, but it’s looking like that could be longer.
“One thing these kids have done is, they’ve fought through adversity because we’ve had a lot of it this season,” Craig Sims said. “I know our schedule is not as strong as it has been in the past due to conference change where we have to play everybody twice, but for this team to be 16-3, that’s an accomplishment in itself with what we’ve been through and what we’ve dealt with.”
