On Thursday and Friday of last week, Manchester senior pitcher Rylie Young hit a game-winning three-run homer, recorded her 500th career strikeout, then tossed a no -hitter as the Lady Hounds picked up wins over Fayetteville and Green. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Game-winning HR, 500th K, No-Hitter
Manchester catcher Bristynn McClanahan hauls in a foul pop-up in the Lady Hounds’ 3-2 win over Fayetteville on April 17. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Leadoff hitter Addilyn Hunter attempts to get a slap bunt down during the Manchester conference win over Fayetteville last week. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It would be tough to have two better days on the softball diamond than what Manchester senior Rylie Young had last week. In a span of about 18 hours, Young blasted a game-winning three-run homer, picked up her 500th career strikeout, then followed up with a five-inning no-hitter. All of those heroics resulted in a pair of Manchester wins that improved the Lady Hounds to 9-3 on the season.
On Thursday, April 17, the Lady Hounds played host to the Fayetteville Lady Rockets in a crucial small school division match up in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. The contest turned out to be an instant classic, decided by a three-run Manchester sixth inning.
The first four frames were a classic pitcher’s duel between Manchester’s Young and Fayetteville’s Victoria Thompson, Young blanking the Lady Rockets and Thompson firing five innings of no-hit softball, retiring the first 12 Manchester hitters. Young walked two hitters in the top of the second but worked out of trouble and left those runners stranded. In the top of the third, Fayetteville loaded the bases with two outs but Young got a fielder’s choice ground ball to third baseman Addilyn Hunter to end that threat.
The Lady Rockets finally broke the scoring ice in their half of the fifth. The first two hitters, Lilly Carlier and Chloe Cox, drew walks as Young struggled with control and Carlier came home on a Thompson single to right. A line drive off the bat of Ryley Kleemeyer found the glove of Hunter at third base and turned into a double play but a base hit to left by Addie Rugenstein drove home Thompson to give the Lady Rockets a 2-0 advantage.
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