By Matt Turer — @MattTurer
Walnut Grove, Mo. — Sheridan Corum wasn’t happy about how she’s pitched of late. She got back on track against Walnut Grove.
Corum pitched a three-hitter for her third shutout of 2017, and the Hornets (15-4) beat the Tigers 7-0 on Monday for their fifth win in six games.
“I came out a little nervous,” Corum said. “I haven’t been pitching very good the past couple weekends, but I was pretty calm after about the third inning today.”
Corum held Walnut Grove (10-9) hitless until Bayley Harman singled to leadoff the fourth, and managed to work around six Hornets errors in the first five innings.
“[Corum] threw well,” Hermitage coach Shane Salmon said. “She’s doing a much better job of locating pitches and doing a good job of limiting the number of pitching so she’s fresh in the seventh inning.”
Hits by Stephanie Ortiz with two outs in the sixth and Faith Gilkey with one out in the seventh were the only others for the Tigers.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Despite the Hermitage errors, only four Tigers reached scoring position. Corum got Lauren Johnson to fly out to left with Grace McPhail on second in the third, Cortney Stevens to fly out to left with the bases loaded for Walnut Grove in the fourth and got Stevens to fly out again to left with Makayla McVay on third in the sixth.
“We didn’t hit it very good and when we did have runners on base we just couldn’t get a big hit,” Walnut Grove coach Jeff Dishman said.
Jade Morris doubled off Tigers starter McVay to leadoff the game, later scoring when Lindsey Smith reached on an error, putting the Hornets up 1-0.
Makayla Hostettler gave the Hornets a 3-0 lead with a single in the fourth that scored Anna Ginnings.
Hostettler knocked in her second run by driving in Ginnings on an RBI double in the sixth, making it 4-0. Following a Morris single, Lindsey Smith reached on an error that scored Hostettler and Morris.
“It was big because I haven’t been able to hit the past few games,” Hostettler said of her two-hit, two-RBI night at the bottom of the order. “It was nice to come back and hit strong. And I know the coaches were hoping I’d be able to drive in some runs.”
An Aliesha Wise single in the seventh scored Sadi Hostettler and set the final at 7-0.
“We didn’t hit the ball too well tonight. But we got a few bunts down and did what we needed to do,” Salmon said. “Sometimes those Monday games are just hard to focus without practice the day before, but we did pretty good today.”
Corum doubled with two outs in the third and put the Hornets up 2-0 when she scored after Sadi Hostettler reached on an error.
“When you give a good team too many at-bats, it’ll come back and haunt you,” Dishman said. “We had [six] errors and that’s [27] at-bats right there, plus their hits.”
McVay allowed three earned runs on 10 hits for the Tigers over seven innings, striking out three.
CONFIDENCE: With just three games left before district play, Corum didn’t mince words when talking about the Hornets’ potential, saying, “I think we’re gonna make it all the way [to state]. We’re pretty ready.” The Hornets made it to the Class 1 quarterfinals in 2016, losing 4-0 to Van Buren.
UP NEXT: Hermitage travels to Class 4 Parkview (8-8) on Friday … Walnut Grove hosts Weaubleau (16-3) on Tuesday.
SCORING
HRM |1|0|1|1|0|3|1| — |7|10|6|
WLG |0|0|0|0|0|0|0| — |0|3|6|
Hornets – Top 1st
Lindsey Smith reached on E6, Jade Morris scored. — HRM 1, WLG 0
Hornets – Top 3rd
Sadi Hostettler reached on E8, Sheridan Corum scored. — HRM 2, WLG 0
Hornets – Top 4th
Makayla Hostettler singled, Anna Ginnings scored. — HRM 3, WLG 0
Hornets – Top 6th
Makayla Hostettler doubled, Ginnings scored. — HRM 4, WLG 0
Lindsey Smith reached on E1, Makayla Hostettler and Morris scored. — HRM 6, WLG 0
Hornets – Top 7th
Aliesha Wise singled, Sadi Hostettler scored. — HRM 7, WLG 0
