Clutch hitting powers Hornets for victory
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

Louise's baseball team had never lost to Moulton and Friday's game kept it that way.

The Hornets rallied in the sixth inning for a 15-8 win in front of a home-town crowd.

Though Louise traditionally dominates the Bobkatz on the baseball field, a win over Moulton is always nice for the Hornets.

"Moulton always seems to have our number in basketball and it's exciting when we beat them in basketball, but it's the same way in baseball," Josh Curtis, Louise's head baseball coach said. "We tell our kids that we play the hardest that we can play against Moulton because we do not want to lose to Moulton in anything, much less baseball. I think that had a little bit to do with it."

Despite the final score, the game was close through five innings. Moulton actually had an 8-7 lead over the Hornets moving into the bottom of the sixth inning. That was win Louise came up with some big hits.

Chris Hicks led off the inning with a single. Clint Blaha claimed first on an error and Matthew Blumrick followed with a walk to load the bases for Wesley Branscum, Louise's third baseman.

Branscum is having a huge year for the Hornets. He leads the team in hitting and came through with a great one in this at-bat.

"We get the bases loaded and Wesley Branscum comes up, he's hitting about .550 right now, and hits a triple," Curtis said. "If the wind hadn't of been blowing, it would have been a grand slam."

Branscum's hit put the Hornets in the lead 10-8.

The next two at-bats were outs, but Kyle Tegeler got another rally going for the Hornets in the next at-bat.

Tegeler connected for a shingle to right field and Jonathan Pesina followed with a single to Moulton's shortstop. Tegeler's hit scored Branscum and put the Hornets up 11-8. Louise was about to take an even bigger lead.

T.J. Ochoa, who recently joined the varsity team, made a great hit. He connected for a single up the middle and brought in two runs.

"It was very clutch - especially for a kid who hasn't had that many varsity at-bats," Curtis said. "The first pitch he sees, he drives it right up the middle. He's the type of kid that everybody on the team loves, so when he does something like that, it gets everybody fired up."

Hicks hit a triple to score Ochoa and put Louise ahead 15-8 going into the top of the seventh.

Louise's offensive momentum carried over to the defensive side of the ball in the seventh inning.

"You could tell our kids played with a lot more confidence on defense," Curtis said. "We got three up and three down and that was the ballgame. It was good for our kids, being in a close game like that and seeing that they can come back and win being as young as they are. It was a good confidence booster for them."

HORNETS VS. MOULTON