Kylie Mack
HOPE — After seeing four high-velocity pitchers in its first four softball games this season, Hauser needed an inning to get adjusted to North Decatur’s Sarah Swain Thursday.
After getting shut out in the first, the Jets put up seven runs in each of the next two innings and two in the third to overcome an early 1-0 deficit and post a 16-2, five-inning Mid-Hoosier Conference win.
“I’m proud of them tonight for making the adjustment,” Hauser coach Andy Brunner said. “It’s a different caliber of pitching than we’ve seen from Jennings County, what we’ve seen from Rising Sun, what we’ve seen from Edinburgh and Columbus East. No disrespect to North Decatur, but their pitching tonight was not like anything like any of those four schools. What I want to see out of my batters is the ability to slow down and still be productive in the box with that off-speed pitching. I’m very happy with it.”
The Jets (3-2, 2-0) pounded out 22 hits. The bottom four batters in the order went a combined 13 for 13.
Senior right fielder Kylie Mack led Hauser from the No. 6 spot in the lineup, going 4 for 4 with two RBIs.
“I was just waiting on it and seeing the ball all the way to my bat and not just pulling my head or dropping my hands,” Mack said. “We’ve been working really hard on our bats this week and really dialing in on trying to make those minor adjustments,” Mack said. “So I think that we all just expected that we were going to come out here and do well.”
No. 7 hitter Maley Jordan went 3 for 3 with two doubles. No. 8 hitter Reagan Johnson went 3 for 3 with three RBIs, and No. 9 hitter Lexi Hamilton went 3 for 3 with two RBIs.
“It’s definitely a confidence boost,” Johnson said. “We’ve struggled a little bit the past few games. I think it really just helped all of us. As soon as we got through the first inning, we all started hitting, and we just kind of finally slowed down and figured out our timing.”
The top of the lineup picked things up, as well, as the game went along. Leadoff batter Lucie Asher went 2 for 4 with a triple, and No. 2 hitter Izzy Brunner went 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs. All nine starters had at least one hit and at least one RBI.
“That’s what’s expected,” Andy Brunner said. “That’s what this team has done. It’s taken us a little bit to find that, and they found it tonight. I’m proud of them. The top of the lineup tonight, there in first inning, they struggled, and even a little bit in the second inning, they struggled, but they found their groove as well.”
Cleanup batter Paige McDaniel, who went 2 for 3 with a two-run inside-the-park home run, pitched the first three innings for the Jets, allowing one run on two hits in the first before settling down to strike out six of the last seven batters she faced. Shortstop Hannah Taylor came on to pitch the fourth, allowing one run on one hit. Reagan Mack did not allow a hit in closing with a scoreless fifth.
Kyra Meister got a hit off her cousin Elizabeth Meister, who had come on to pitch the fifth for the Chargers.
The two teams will meet again today, this time at North Decatur.
“Tonight was the first error we’ve had in five games, but hitting from top to bottom is the second piece of the game, and they did it tonight,” Andy Brunner said.
