In just about every way, it was a near-perfect senior day for Emporia State: near-perfect sunny weather paired with near-perfect results, with all four active seniors playing a key role in a two-game sweep of Fort Hays State.
The shutdown pitching of Megan Dennis and the bats of Aubree Brattin, Jennifer Dace and Jill Peters all got their moments in the spotlight on Friday at Trusler Sports Complex, as the Hornets took out Fort Hays 6-0 in Game One, honored the seniors in between games, then dismissed the Tigers by a 7-1 score in the second game.
“I don’t think it’s set in yet,” said Dace, the only four-year senior and remaining holdover from the program’s last two national title game appearances. “I think my mom and my grandma have done all the crying for me, but I think on my last game, it’ll be a little bit more emotional. But right now, still living in the dream — it’s not over yet.”
If Friday had been the true end for the senior Hornets, it would’ve been a most fitting one. Dennis was her usual lights-out self in Game One, going the distance and giving up just two hits while striking out nine, improving her record to 17-6. Dace went 4-for-8 with two RBIs over the two games; Brattin had two hits, both doubles, and drove in two runs; and Peters went 3-for-3 in Game Two and clubbed a solo home run.
“Had two good pitching performances, and I thought as a group, the seniors really played well today, which is nice to see for their last home game,” ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We need to just continue this momentum going into next week (at the MIAA Tournament). We’ve got a big week coming up, so it’s what we’ve been working for all season.”
The Hornets didn’t blow Game One open until a three-run bottom of the sixth inning. With Linda Ketter on first after an infield single, Hays pitcher Adrian Mohr tried to go to second on Angela Mahan’s sac bunt attempt, but the throw was off-line, putting two runners on. Abby Hughes bunted the pair over to second and third, and Miranda Campbell dropped a windblown bloop single over second base to score one. The next hitter, Dace, drilled a shot straight over the center fielder’s head for a two-run double, scoring Mahan and Campbell.
The only time Hays threatened to score came in the top of the sixth, when the Hornets’ lead was just 3-0. Errors by Dace and Mahan put runners on second and third with two out, but Dennis got Mohr to fly out to right to end the inning.
“I just came out looking to get ahead of every batter, and I did, for the most part,” Dennis said.
Campbell and Dace each had two hits, drove in two runs and scored a run in the first game, and Brattin had an RBI and a run scored. Brattin’s line-drive double to left-center scored Dace in the bottom of the fifth inning, and she scored after Hays first baseman Sara Webber mishandled a throw to first on Jenna Potter’s ground ball.
One three-run inning early and one late made Game Two another Hornet rout. Campbell socked a towering solo homer over the left field fence, her eighth of the year, with one out in the second inning to make it 2-0 Hornets. Dace followed by reaching on an error by second baseman Rachel Gemmill, and Brattin stroked a double into the gap in left center to put runners on second and third. Dace then scored on Potter’s groundout to second.
Peters had had one hit in the first game, but she really made her mark on senior day in the top of the fourth, belting a shot straight down the left field line that stayed inside the foul pole for her sixth bomb of the season, making it 4-0 ESU. The Hornets later added an RBI single by Campbell and back-to-back RBI groundouts by Brattin and Potter in the sixth.
Fort Hays’ only run of the day came on Cortney Brown’s fifth-inning home run to left. Other than that, ESU starting pitcher Jennifer Heerey, wasn’t really touched; the freshman gave up just three hits and improved her record to 19-7.
What better way could senior day have gone down for ESU? Well, it would’ve been a little sweeter if Shelby Hughes, who’s been inactive her entire senior season with an injury, could’ve been on the field. Hughes was honored with the rest of her fellow seniors in between games.
“I mean, obviously, today just wasn’t a factor, but just all season, she’s a big help for us out there, and she provides a lot of spunk for this team,” Bredbenner said. “And really, we’ve missed her bat this year most of all, and I just think that it’d be nice to have her out there. But it was great to see her today out supporting the team, and she’s a good kid.”
Not much emotion was evident from the seniors on Friday — not with next week’s MIAA Tournament in Overland Park looming as the next challenge.
“And it doesn’t feel over,” Dennis said. “I feel like we’ve got so much to accomplish.”
The Hornets will take on an as-yet-unknown opponent in the tournament’s first round at 6 p.m. Thursday at Blue Valley Recreation Complex. ESU’s scheduled season-ending doubleheader on Tuesday at Newman has been cancelled.
Friday at Trusler
Game One
Ft. Hays St. 000 000 0 — 0 2 1
Emporia St. 100 023 x — 6 9 2
WP — Dennis. LP — Mohr.
E — FHSU: Webber; ESU — Mahan, Dace. LOB — FHSU 3, ESU 9. 2B —
ESU: Dace, Brattin. SH — ESUL Mahan, Hughes. SB — ESU: Hughes, Campbell, Ketter,. CS — FHSU: Eaton.
Game Two
Ft. Hays St. (29-28, 5-11) 000 010 0 — 1 3 3
Emporia St. (36-13, 15-5) 102 103 x — 7 14 2
WP — Heerey. LP — Rupa.
E — FHSU: Gemmill, Brown, Rupa; ESU: Hughes, Campbell. LOB —
FHSU 4, ESU 9. 2B — ESU: Brattin, Ketter. HR — FHSU: Brown; ESU: Campbell, Peters. HBP — FHSU: Gemmill. SH — FHSU: Duran. SB — ESU: Hughes, Campbell, Dace.