After coming up a run short in the first of two five-inning matchups with visiting Cornerstone Christian on Saturday, the Heritage Christian Academy Lady Warriors charged back from a 5-run deficit to pick up an 11-10 win in the second game.
In the first game, HCA got its first run before its first hit, taking a 1-0 lead when Kinely Deason came home on a wild pitch after reaching base on a lead-off walk and stealing 2nd and 3rd.
The lead didn’t last long, with Cornerstone pushing across 3 runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Vannah Reed, Gracie Graves, and Jordan Gaines.
The scored held until the 5th when Hadlee Hayes singled for the Lady Warriors’ only hit of the contest and brought home Deason. With the tying run on first, Hayes left the bag early and was called out and Hallie Zieg followed with a ground out to end the game.
Brooke Peterman went the distance in the circle for Cornerstone, allowing only a single hit and striking out 8, but she couldn’t silence the Lady Warrior bats in the second matchup.
Cornerstone looked to be on their way to a second win after 4 1st-inning runs, with the first 5 batters reaching on singles. But after only a single hit in the first meeting, the first three Lady Warriors reached base, including doubles by Deason and Zieg and an RBI single by Hayes. A second run scored on a ground out and HCA trailed 4-2 after an inning.
Cornerstone loaded the bases in the 2nd on a pair of walks and a hit by pitch before Peterman scored 3 with a triple for a 7-2 advantage. Gaines hit an inside the park home run with a runner on for a 9-2 lead, but HCA answered with 3 runs in its half of the 3rd. Chloe Ginn singled in a run and another came in on an error for a 9-5 score.
Trailing 10-5 in the 4th, the Lady Warriors began their comeback. Zieg grounded out to push a run across followed by an RBI single by Madison Warren. Kennedy Hughes tripled to drive in a run and came home when Emily Dilday grounded out to get HCA within a run at 10-9.
Kaitlyn Stanley and Deason singled to start the bottom of the 5th and Stanley came home all the way from 2nd on a wild pitch to tie the game. With Deason at 3rd, Cornerstone handed intentional walks to the next two batters to load the bases with no outs. Warren took the first three pitches she saw for balls, but two strikes made it a full count. Warren wasn’t tempted by the next pitch and walked to bring in the winning run.
Hughes earned the win in the circle for HCA, going the distance and allowing 9 earned runs on 9 hits with 3 walks and 8 strikeouts. Peterman took the loss for Cornerstone, pitching all 5 frames while allowing 10 earned runs on 10 hits with 10 walks and 3 strikeouts.
Deason was 3 for 4 at the plate and scored 3 runs. Ginn had 2 hits and drove in 2, with four other Lady Warriors hitting safely once and Kennedy collecting 2 RBI.
The loss is the first of the season for Cornerstone, the KCAA’s top-ranked team, leaving them at 8-1 overall. HCA improves to 4-5 ahead of a visit from Christian Community on Monday.
