By Eric Eaton
HCC Coordinator
FISHERS – On a cold and extremely windy day at the Hamilton Southeastern Softball Complex on March 25th, Avon’s Jenny Esparza pitched a no-hitter against the host Royals as the 4A #4 Orioles snapped 4A #2 Southeastern’s 33-game winning streak by a count of 2-0.
Make sure you check out our video highlights from this game, which includes an interview with Esparza! Those highlights can be found at the end of this story.
Just how windy was it on this evening, well I can tell you that I nearly got blown off the top of Hamilton Southeastern’s press box on more than one occasion while attempting to shot the previously mentioned video!
Avon scored its first of two runs in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by junior Holly Wasmund which scored Nikki Burris. They then tacked on a second run in the top of the 4th when Hamilton Southeastern pitcher Taylor Rager was called for an illegal pitch. Avon senior Mallory Pera was standing on third base at the time of Rager’s miscue and thus was subsequently allowed to score, putting the Orioles ahead two-nil.
The two run lead was more than enough for Esparza as she struck out 13 and walked just two in recording a no-hit shutout of the defending 4A state champion Royals. In fact, Hamilton Southeastern would fail to advance a single runner past second base for the entire game.
The game was both the season and conference opener for the Orioles, who will take a 1-0 record into another Hoosier Crossroads Conference match-up with Fishers on March 26. The Royals (2-1, 0-1 HCC), who saw a 33-game win streak end, suffered a defeat for the time since May 22, 2006. They will attempt to start a new streak on March 26 when they host Anderson.
Avon Boxscore
AB R H RBI BB SO
Lizzie Campbell cf 4 0 1 0 0 0
Bailey Smith rf 4 0 0 0 0 3
Jennifer Esparza p 2 0 0 0 2 1
Helen Rogers c 3 0 1 0 1 1
Mallory Pera dh 4 1 1 0 0 2
Nikki Burris 3b 2 1 0 0 1 0
Katie Mathieu 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0
Holly Wasmund ss 2 0 1 1 1 0
Valerie Carrillo 2b 2 0 0 0 1 2
Ashlee Witty lf 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 2 5 1 6 9
Batting
2B: K. Mathieu (Rager)
RBI: H. Wasmund
2-out RBI: H. Wasmund
Scoring position: 1 for 9
Team LOB: 9
Pitchers
IP H R ER BB SO HR
J. Esparza (W) 7.0 0 0 0 2 13 0
Pitches-strikes: J. Esparza 88-56
Ground balls-fly balls: J. Esparza 2-6
Batters faced: J. Esparza 23
Umpires: Matt Davis, Clint Wilson
T: 01:42
Weather: Cool
HSE Boxscore
AB R H RBI BB SO
Jenna Abraham rf 3 0 0 0 0 2
Taylor Rager p 3 0 0 0 0 3
Brett Williams c 3 0 0 0 0 2
Kathleen Maloof cf 3 0 0 0 0 1
Dearing Dearing 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1
Caitlin Laughlin ss 2 0 0 0 0 0
Katie Syrus 2b 2 0 0 0 0 2
Ashley Nelson 1b 0 0 0 0 2 0
Jordan Kleine pr 0 0 0 0 0 0
Samantha Ballinger lf 2 0 0 0 0 2
21 0 0 0 2 13
Batting
Scoring position: 0 for 2
Team LOB: 2
Baserunning
SB: A. Nelson (2nd off Esparza/Rogers)
Fielding
DP: Laughlin (Wasmund off Rager)
PB: B. Williams
Pitchers
IP H R ER BB SO HR
T. Rager (L) 7.0 5 2 2 6 9 0
WP: T. Rager 3
Balk: T. Rager
Pitches-strikes: T. Rager 138-80
Ground balls-fly balls: T. Rager 5-5
Batters faced: T. Rager 32
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