Yellow Jackets sweep Hornets in softball twinbill

ROBBY FLETCHER

Sports Editor

Behind the arm talent of sophomore Gracie Ellis, the No. 10 Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets (12-4) are a proven sore spot for ODAC opponents that struggle to crack the bat against the New Kent righty.

That was evident in the first half of a Saturday doubleheader between the Yellow Jackets and the Shenandoah Hornets on March 25, which found the home team Yellow Jackets sweeping their ODAC rival with wins of 4-1 and 10-3.

Ellis tossed a complete game in the 4-1 opener, allowing just three hits while striking out a season-best 12 batters. The reigning ODAC Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year is off to a blazing start to her sophomore campaign, already recording a 5-2 record with 64 strikeouts in 43 innings played.

Only one of the three hits from the Hornets came in the first six innings, with Shenandoah finally getting a run in the seventh inning, but Ellis’ strength on the mound only gave them that minor positive. For the Yellow Jackets offense, senior Rilee Baughan got things started in the first inning with a double and a score off of an RBI double from sophomore Kayla Davis.

They got back on the board with a two-score fifth inning that found pinchrunner Bailey Hairfield scoring on a hit from junior Olivia Owens and senior Cameron Hildebrand scoring on a hit from freshman Ellie Herndon.

Sophomore Amanda Lanyon made it 4-0 at the bottom of the sixth with a combination of effort plays that started with a base hit to first, a steal to second, an advance to third on a wild pitch and finally a run to home off a passed ball.

In the second game of the doubleheader, pitcher

Rilee Baughan earned the win after tossing six strikeouts and allowing three hits in six innings, while

Courtney Guthrie closed the book on the game by relieving Baughan for the final inning.

While Shenandoah showed improvement with five hits and three runs against its ranked opponent, the Yellow Jackets were even more dynamic at the bat, recording 12 hits as a team led by a 3-RBI evening from first baseman Natalie Robinson.

Robinson was one of two Yellow Jackets to smash a ball out of the park, hitting her home run in the third to score in Ellis and Kiley Lamberth while Reagan Hill connected on her first collegiate homer in the second that resulted in two runs.

After the Hornets scored the first run in the first inning, it was met with a three-run possession in the bottom of the frame from the Yellow Jackets, who got runs from a Baughan double, a wild pitch that got sophomore Naomi Sadler to home plate and a sacrifice fly from Davis.

Randolph-Macon had three-run innings in the second and third as well to make it 9-3, with the two home runs accounting for most of the damage and a Lanyon score off an error being the cherry on top of the sundae.

After Robinson’s home run, the game went scoreless temporarily until the bottom of the sixth, where an RBI single from freshman Jordan Brown was her first collegiate RBI and the robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.

Yellow Jackets’ 10th run of the night to cap off another impressive victory in the ODAC.

The Yellow Jackets kick off April with another doubleheader, this time on the road against the Ferrum Panthers on Saturday, April 1. The first game starts at 1 p.m.