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Riddle's blast leads Rowan County to 9-1 win over Lady Royals
Monday, May 5, 2008 10:14 PM EDT
Muncy, a sophomore second baseman, led the way at the plate, hitting for the cycle and driving in four runs, three of which came on a home run to left field in the final inning, but it was Riddle, a junior first baseman, who came up with the highlight of the game.
Riddle, who came up a triple shy of the cycle herself, crushed a sixth-inning pitch well beyond the fence in straightaway center for her 31st career home run, a KHSAA record. In addition, Riddle's shot, which passed Megan Shadrick of Hopkins County Central for the career mark, tied her with two players for the single-season state record of 12 with eight regular-season games still remaining on the slate.
Following the game, Mason County coach Meredith Fraysure had nothing but praise for her opponent's record-breaking performance.
"For her to break a career record as a junior and for her to have that much offensive control is amazing," Fraysure said. "That was not a lazy fly ball over the fence. It was a bullet, and everything she hit all day long was a bullet."
Coming into the game knowing what Riddle was capable of, Fraysure and Lady Royals pitcher Karissa Greenhill planned to pitch Riddle as carefully as possible, but in the interests of sportsmanship, it was never in the plans to issue an intentional walk.
"We talked about making an effort to pitch around her if it was a tight situation but certainly not intentionally walk her," said Fraysure. "Because it's a high school sport, she's earned it, and works hard to do what she does."
Before the home runs broke open the game, Rowan County plated four runs over the first five innings, but Greenhill was able to work out of several jams, stranding eight runners over the same span. Muncy and Amelia O'Hair provided the offense in the second inning with an RBI double and single, respectively, while a run scored on a wild pitch in the first and a fielder's choice in the fourth.
Though the Lady Royals had been fortunate to escape some tight situations early in the game, Fraysure also noted that, with three of the four runs being unearned, the defensive effort could have been better.
"Rowan County is always very good offensively, and obviously they've got some girls with some power," Fraysure said. "We can't have errors and missed opportunities that put more runners on base for them."
Mason County struggled at the plate against Rowan senior Danielle Jennings, who allowed just four hits, one unearned run and struck out nine. The lone run scored in the sixth, when Tiara Harris stole second base and came all the way around to score when the throw sailed into center field. Seniors Lacey Cline and Krista Hamilton, who were honored in a Senior Night ceremony before the game, combined for three of the four hits.
Fraysure was quite pleased with the performance of her young pitcher, especially considering the lineup she faced.
"I think Karissa pitched about as well as she could today," said Fraysure. "When you take a step back and think about her being in eighth grade and pitching against a team with six seniors, that's tough. Mentally, I think she was a little shaken by it but she doesn't need to be."
Mason County (8-11) returns to action today when it travels to Campbell County.
Rowan County 120 102 3 --9 14 1
Mason County 000 001 0 --1 4 4
WP: Jennings. LP: Greenhill. Hitting leaders: RC (Muncy 4-4, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 R, 4 RBI; Riddle 3-4, 2B, HR, RBI; Howard 2-4, 2B; O'Hair 1-1, 2 RBI), MC (Cline 2-3; Anderson 1-1; Hamilton 1-3). Records: Rowan County 19-7, Mason County 8-11.
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