HOPE — After Hauser left nine runners on base in the first four innings Monday, Kylie Mack didn’t want to leave another one stranded when she came to the plate with two out in the fifth.
So the sophomore first baseman smacked a two-run home run to left-center field to give the Class A co-No. 7 Jets the lead for good in what would become a 6-3 win against Rushville.
“I figured I wanted to be a leader and step up and start the rally,” Mack said. “I was just looking to move the runners around, maybe get myself on base. I think the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I think it really pulled us together as a team and got our heads in it.”
After the Lions (3-6) got a home run from Belle Gossett in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3, Hauser (13-2) came through with another big two-out hit to add a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. This time, it was Morgan Bottoms with a single up the middle.
Paige McDaniel then retired Rushville in the seventh to give the Jets their seventh consecutive win. Hauser had scored in double digits in each of its first six wins during that streak.
“It’s slow moving at first, but once we get in there, we’re doing really good, and I think we should just keep it up,” Mack said.
The Jets got on the board with a run in the first on consecutive two-out singles by Hannah Taylor, Dani Steward and Reagan Johnson. The same trio struck in the second with a one-out walk to Taylor and back-to-back singles from Steward and Johnson.
Hauser had a chance to add to that lead in the third, but left the bases loaded. Then, after Rushville tied the game with two runs in the fourth, the Jets left them loaded again in the bottom of the fourth.
“That has been a struggle that we are continuing to work with,” Hauser coach Andy Brunner said. “We don’t have a problem getting runners on base. Tonight, the third and fourth innings, we left the bases loaded, and we can’t operate like that, and the girls know it. We talk about it. We work on it. It’s something that is a work in progress.”
Both teams managed 10 hits. Steward finished 2 for 3, and Kyra Meister and Johnson each went 2 for 4 for Hauser off Lions pitchers Rochelle Meyers and Kara Chandler.
“I told the girls when we met here after the game I’m very proud of them,” Brunner said. “They saw two very different styles of pitching tonight, and to be able to make the adjustments and be able to keep the bats going and producing, that’s a good thing for us. It helps us take that strategy away from other teams, and it’s not always easy to do.”
The Jets have added a game Wednesday at Franklin County to make up for the one against Brown County that was canceled earlier this month.
