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PORTSMOUTH — With sunlight dimming and while facing a 1-0 deficit against a state-ranked opponent, Hillsboro’s Isabelle Brunck and Addie Huff understood the moment they were in.
Brunck was the first to leave her fingerprints on the night, lacing a game-tying, seeing-eye RBI single through the left side of the infield to wipe the slate. Then Huff gave the Indians (14-3) a lead … for good.
The duo became the catalyst of a 3-1 win at Notre Dame in a gigantic non-league matchup.
“[The win] means a lot,” Hillsboro coach Gary Breeden said. “We’re getting ready and we’re getting hardened for the tournament ride. I was worried about tonight. We have prom this weekend and the talk on the bus was prom. So a little bit of panic set in, but the girls focused when it was time to start and do their job.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Brunck and Huff’s late-inning base hits stole the spotlight, but before those took place, Notre Dame’s Ava Rush and Hillsboro’s Camryn Spruell shared center stage in the pitcher’s circle.
Offensive production came at a premium price while two of the district’s top two pitchers went head-to-head. In fact, Rush and Spruell allowed just three combined hits through the first four innings.
But when Notre Dame (14-1) pushed a run across home plate in the bottom of the fourth, it looked like Spruell was going to indeed lose the duel.
ND’s Lyndsey Schaefer spearheaded that process by working a two-out walk with a runner already on base. That gave way for Maycee Ford to drive in the game’s lone run, pushing a 2-2 offering into the outfield grass to give the Titans a 1-0 advantage.
The Indians, however, answered immediately.
“We saw [Rush] at Hillsboro, and we hit her OK at our place,” Breeden said. “We just saw the pitches. I told the girls in the second inning that we were chipping her and that we needed to step and drive [the ball]. She’s a quality pitcher and she spins the ball well. In tight situations, we need to make adjustments and, as the game progressed, we finally did.”
Rilynn Swisshelm and Mylea Fridley each worked one-out walks to place runners on first and third. Spruell then grounded into a fielder’s choice, advancing Swisshelm to third and putting runners on the corners with two outs.
PHOTOS: Images from Hillsboro’s win over Notre Dame
Notre Dame, understandably so, decided to walk Hillsboro’s Chloe Roberts to load the bases and create a force-out opportunity.
But Brunck and Huff had other plans.
Brunck found outfield grass with an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1 before Huff followed suit, knocking in a pair and putting Hillsboro in front at 3-1.
And, put simply, that’s all she wrote.
“Those two have been with me for four years,” Breeden said of Brunck and Huff. “They were also with me in the junior high program. I told [Brunck] when they walked Chloe to get to her, I said, ‘Show them that’s the worst mistake they’ve ever made. She came through. And Addie is one of those kids that’s just going to grind.”
Notre Dame had one last chance to hit, but Spruell slammed the door shut.
The senior needed just 12 pitches to strike out the side in the bottom of the fifth and, directly after, umpires called the game due to darkness.
“She’s just Cam,” Breeden said of Spruell. “Nobody behind her wants to let her down. If it’s a 1-0 ballgame, they want to make sure that they’re backing her up when a ball is put in play. There are some nights where balls aren’t put in play, and there are other nights where they’re put in play hard. But nobody wants to let her down.”
Statistically, Spruell led Hillsboro, firing five innings of one-hit softball and striking out 13 hitters. At the plate, Fridley was 2-for-2 with a walk, Huff went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, and Brunck finished 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Notre Dame’s lone hit came from Ford, who finished 1-for-2 with an RBI. Rush’s line in the circle included three earned runs on five hits alongside four punch outs.
The Indians are back in action on Monday evening at McClain, attempting to keep their perfect FAC record intact. Meanwhile, Notre Dame looks to bounce back on Saturday against both Lebanon and Kenton Ridge.
“Against Wheelersburg this past Saturday, we came up one run short,” Breeden said. “We had a good battle with Notre Dame [on March 27] and came up two runs short. So tonight, we’re down one run against a quality opponent with a quality pitcher. But it was just like, ‘Let’s go to work.’ These girls, that’s what they did.”
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