By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
There’s been quite a bit of history made on the Hamilton Heights softball field over the past few years, but never quite like what happened on Tuesday.
April 24 will be known as the Triple Slam day on the Huskies’ field. The Heights team totaled three grand slams in its win over Northwestern. Not only that, but two of those slams were hit by one player.
Freshman Hayley Greene smacked her first slam in the fourth inning, then with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, hit another ball over the fence. That made the score 14-3, and that would be the final, since that was over the limit for the 10-run rule.
“We were just all in together,” said Greene. “Our defense was in and of course our bats were going, which is really good all around.”
Senior Taylor Ewing got the Huskies’ first slam of the game in the second inning, which broke a 1-1 tie. Aliyah Dorsey drew a walk, Kelsie Albright got on with a fielder’s choice and Jesse Nomdo singled to load the bases, and that brought Ewing up for her slam.
“When I go up there, I just look to hit the ball,” said Ewing. The senior said she doesn’t look for power, but after she saw her coaches telling her “Just go,” and her teammates came out to congratulate her, that’s when she knew.
“And it was a good feeling, for sure,” said Ewing.
“It was very impressive tonight,” said Heights coach Landi Lockwood. “It’s something we’ve been lacking the last few games and I was excited to see us start to get our swing back and get a hold of it. It’s rare to see one grand slam, but three is pretty amazing. For them to keep their composure after they’ve done that and do it again, and to have the girls on base to do that, we needed to have that and that worked for us in our favor tonight, too.”
In the fourth inning, Ewing singled on to base, then Bayleigh Runner got on with a fielder’s choice. Jessica Kaurich drew a walk, and that set up Greene for her first slam.
That same group came together in the sixth inning with the Huskies up 10-3. Ewing got a walk, Runner singled, Kaurich was hit by a pitch, then Greene took the 2-1 pitch over the fence.
“That time I had to think like, we just needed to get more runs on to win,” said Greene. “We were thinking, just get it in play and score these runs. It went over, so it worked out in the end.”
Runner got the first run in the first inning, when Greene batted her in with a double. That means Greene finished the game with nine RBIs. Kylie Schakel also scored in the fourth inning, prior to Greene’s first grand slam.
It was a nice rebound for a Heights team that went through a bit of a rough patch last week, dropping three games, two by run-rule. The Huskies got off to a fine start with the season, but have had to deal with their ups and downs, which can happen when a team has young players.
“Honestly, going in nobody knew how we were going to do with such a young team,” said Ewing. “But from the get-go, we’ve been really good. We started off beating Zionsville our first game, so it was an accomplishment.”
Ewing admitted that the middle of the season “got a little rough,” but said her team is getting things together. She’s also amazed by the younger players on the team.
“Watching the game, you would never have know that there are such young girls out here playing,” said Ewing. “I think this game, everybody came out with their heads in it and we all knew we wanted to win. We knew there was nothing to lose, so we all had confidence in ourselves about this game.”
Ewing and Kaurich are the only two seniors on the team this season. Greene said she’s learned quite a bit from them.
“Taylor’s a shortstop and I play there sometimes,” said Greene. “If I’m at third (base) during practice, I’ll watch her and see what she does. I can just carry that into the game with me. They’re role models for us and it’s a lot of help.”
Albright pitched three and a third innings, while Greene threw the final two and two thirds. Between them, the two pitchers allowed Northwestern just five hits.
Heights is now 5-7 for the season and will play at Northwestern at 5 p.m. today. With Tuesday’s win under their belts, the Huskies feel like things are getting better for them.
“We’re definitely going to keep going up,” said Ewing. “I have a lot of confidence in our girls. With our losses, I know conference is out of the question, but I think we have a really good chance at winning sectionals, hopefully.”
“We just got to keep our heads in it,” said Greene. “We had tough losses all last week, and it showed that we got down. But today’s game showed that we were still in it, and we can win. And like Taylor said, I think we have a great chance at winning sectionals if we just stay in it.”
Heights 14, Northwestern 3
(6 innings)
Heights AB R H RBI
Taylor Ewing 3 3 2 4
Bayleigh Runner 4 3 2 0
Jessica Kaurich 2 2 0 0
Hayley Greene 4 2 3 9
Adyson Baber 3 0 0 0
Sydney Massicotte 3 0 1 0
Aliyah Dorsey 1 1 0 0
Riley Engle 1 0 0 0
Kelsie Albright 1 1 0 0
Kylie Schakel 2 1 1 0
Jesse Nomdo 1 1 1 0
Karlee Purkey 1 0 0 0
Totals 26 14 10 13
Score by inning
Northwestern 010 020 – 3 5 0
Heights 140 504 – 14 10 0
HR: Greene 2, Ewing. 2B: Greene. SB: Ewing, Runner. HBP: Kaurich.
Heights pitching IP R ER H
Albright 3.1 1 1 2
Greene 2.2 2 2 3
Strikeouts: Albright 2, Greene 1. Walks: Albright 5.
Hamilton Heights’ Taylor Ewing (left) and Hayley Greene helped the Huskies “slam” the door on a Tuesday 14-3 win over Northwestern. The freshman Greene hit two grand slams in the game, while the senior Ewing hit a second-inning grand slam. (Richie Hall)