HOPE — Craig Sims wasn’t happy with the way his Hauser softball team played in Tuesday’s 12-7 win against Trinity Lutheran, and the Jets had a hard practice on Wednesday.
Thursday, Class A No. 6 Hauser was back on top of its game. Hunter Crain threw a three-hitter, and the Jets played errorless defense in a 15-0, five-inning Mid-Hoosier Conference win against South Decatur.
“I think I warmed up really well, and that carried over to the game,” Crain said. “I think that was the difference in how I pitched.”
Crain struck out eight and walked only one in posting her first career shutout.
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“I thought Hunter pitched a really good game,” Sims said. “She was getting ahead of batters, and I thought (Hannah) Johnson did a little better job behind the plate than she has other games. It was good to work on little things that can make a big difference in the long run.”
Neither team pitched their ace. Sims rested his daugther Tessa and likely will again today when Hauser (16-4, 8-1) visits the Cougars (4-11, 4-5).
Meanwhile, South Decatur ace Claire Wullenweber played center field after being hit on the elbow by a pitch in Wednesday’s loss to Jac-Cen-Del. Cougars coach Lisa Huff said Wullenweber should be able to pitch today.
“She’s pitched a lot of games for me, so I thought, ‘I’m going to give her a break tonight,'” Huff said. “I pitched Sierra Lang (Wednesday) night, and she did a pretty good job. She kind of got tired (Thursday). Her hand started swelling up after awhile, but I thought Erynn (Dyer) came in and did a nice job tonight.”
The Jets reached Lang for five runs in each of the first three innings. Dyer recorded the final out in the third and pitched a scoreless fourth.
Hauser’s Shelby Fugate and Lauryn Starnes each had two-run singles in the first. Tessa Sims had a triple, and Johnson had an RBI-double in the second. In the third, Lexi Tallent drew a bases-loaded walk, and Katie Taylor had an RBI-single.
Johnson went 3 for 3 to lead the Jets’ 13-hit attack. Starnes went 2 for 2, Fugate went 2 for 3 and Taylor went 2 for 4.
Annie Gant, Sam Goodfellow and Chloee Smith had the hits for South Decatur.
“We struggled a little bit at the plate tonight,” Huff said. “Hauser is a good team. We did have a few decent hits, and that’s what we’re working on. We’re going to get there.”
