RAYMOND - The 2020 Hinds Lady Eagles softball season was off to promising start prior to its unexpected halt due to COVID-19. Hinds had their best sixteen game start in the past 12 years.

The Lady Eagles finished the shortened season with an overall record of 9-7 and were 1-1 overall in the MACJC. With their (12-7) win over No. 5 Highland (KS) on February 28th, head coach Mike Grzanich found his program ranked in the NJCAA national poll for the first time in his tenure. Hinds was ranked as high as No. 19 in the NJCAA during the 2020 season.  

Much of their success was because of the stellar season sophomore pitcher Cassidy Rhea (West Monroe, LA) was having. In her eight starts, Rhea racked up 46 innings pitched, and totaled a strikeout per inning. She bested her freshman campaign ERA (2.92) with a 2.89 ERA through those eight games. To complement Rhea, freshman Natalie Parker (Denham Springs, LA) and Ashley Lopez (Zachary, LA) also combined for 60 innings pitched. Offensively, the Eagles were catching their stride, with six of the starting nine hitters in the lineup having boosted their average to .300 or better. The team was averaging nearly eight hits per game and over five runs per game, with Katherine Bruner (Brandon) and Savannah Bryant (Mize) leading the offensive charge.



Offensive Leaders
Katherine Bruner - .333 | 19 hits | 9 runs | 8 RBI
Ashley Lopez - .333 | 10 hits | 6 runs
Savannah Bryant - .318 | 14 hits | 10 runs | 4 2B | 2 HR | 13 RBI
Brennan Newell - .310 | 9 hits | 3 2B | 10 RBI
Hanna Wilkerson - .306 | 15 hits | 8 runs | 12 RBI
Natalie Parker - .296 | 16 hits | 14 runs | 9 2B | 10 RBI
Sadie Parker – 12 hits | 10 runs | 8 SB
 
Pitching Leaders
Cassidy Rhea – 46 IP | 2.89 ERA |46 SO | 13 BB
Natalie Parker – 33.1 IP | 4.41 ERA |
Ashley Lopez – 26.2 IP | 6.04 ERA | 16 SO | 13 BB
 
 
 
 
Lady Eagles Softball Splits DH with No. 13 Trinity Valley on Opening Day
 
RAYMOND -  The Hinds Community College Lady Eagles softball program opened up their 2020 season with a double-header split against the No. 13 ranked Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) Lady Cardinals. TVCC took game one 5-2 in eight innings before the Lady Eagles took game two 4-3. 


Game One Recap

Sophomore pitcher Cassidy Rhea (West Monroe, LA) was nothing short of spectacular in the circle, in game one for the Hinds Lady Eagles. Rhea went seven and two-thirds innings, struck out nine batters, and allowed just four runs. Coming out of the pen behind Rhea, was freshman Natalie Parker (Denham Springs, LA) who allowed one run before she recorded the final out of the eighth inning.

Offensively, the Lady Eagles got off to a slow start before Natalie Parker drove a ball in the gap for a double in the bottom of the fourth inning. Hannah Wilkerson (Lake) followed up Parker's double with a single of her own, before Brennan Newell (Florence) put the Lady Eagles on the board with a sacrifice fly which scored Parker.. 

After falling behind 2-1 in the top of sixth inning on a TVCC two-run homer, Newell tied the game for Hinds at 2-2 with a two-out RBI double. The game-tying double would end up sending the game into extra innings. 

TVCC would break the tie in the top of the eighth inning when they scored three runs to take a 5-2 lead. 

Hinds would rally and load the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but could not push across any runs, which gave the No. 13 Lady Cardinals a 5-2 victory. 

Game Two Recap 

Natalie Parker would draw the start in game two after recording one out in the eighth inning of game one. 

In game two, Parker pitched five innings, and allowed three runs with just one of those runs being earned.

After driving in both runs for the Hinds in game one, Brennan Newell once again drove in all of the Lady Eagles' runs in game two, when she connected for a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. 

The Newell slam would prove to be all the offense the Lady Eagles would need.

To close out the game, freshman Ashley Lopez (Zachary, LA) earned the save as she pitched two shutout innings and struck out one Lady Cardinal batter. Lopez's save secure the 4-3 victory for Hinds.  


The double-header split gave Hinds (1-1) their first victory of the 2020 season and gave the No. 13 NJCAA Division I ranked TVCC (6-1) their first loss of the season. 
 
 
 
 
Lady Eagles Cap off Sunday Sweep with an 8-4 Win over No. 2 LSU-E
 
MERIDIAN - The Hinds Lady Eagles closed out the Meridian Rush Invitational Sunday with a pair of wins over Parkland CC (IL) and NJCAA Division 2 #2 ranked LSU-Eunice by scores of 5-4 and 8-4.

Game 1 vs. Parkland CC W (5-4)
Pitcher Natalie Parker held Parkland's offense at bay for majority of the game.
She went 6.1 innings and gave up four runs. Two of these runs coming in the seventh inning. Parker scattered seven hits through her six plus innings.

Ashley Lopez earned the save for the Lady Eagles as she entered the game with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Lopez threw three pitches and collected two outs to close the door on a 5-4 win.

Offensively, the Eagles were led by freshman Savannah Bryant who was coming off a four hit, five RBI Saturday night, which included a home run. Bryant added another three hits (all doubles) to her total on the weekend to go along an additional three RBI's she collected against Parkland.
Hanna Wilkerson and Ashley Lopez also added RBI's of their own on a pair of singles.

Offensive leaders
Kat Bruner: AB-4|H-1|R-1|
Sadie Parker: AB-1|BB-1|Sac-2|R-1|
Brennan Newell: AB-1|BB-2|R-2|
Hanna Wilkerson: AB-3|H-1|RBI-1|R-1|
Savannah Bryant: AB-3|H-3|2B-3|RBI-3|
Ashley Lopez: AB-3|H-1|RBI-1|
Jessica Deming: AB-3|H-1|

Pitching leaders
(W) Natalie Parker: IP- 6.1|H-7|K-1|BB-1|R-4|
(S) Ashley Lopez: IP- .2|H-0|
 
Game 2 vs. No. 2 LSU-Eunice W (8-4)
Cassidy Rhea was once again stellar on the mound, just as she was the night before in her win against Marion Military where she only surrendered two runs.
Against LSU-E, Rhea gave up four runs through 6.1 innings pitched, with three runs coming in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, Natalie Parker would earn her second win of the day as she pitched 2.2 innings in relief.

At the plate, the Eagles started slow, but kicked it into high gear after the third inning, scoring in four out of the next six innings.

Jessica Deming got the scoring started for the Lady Eagles with a sacrifice fly that drove in Natalie Parker who reached on a leadoff double.
In the fifth, Sadie Parker drove in Katie Cheeks who reached on a walk. Sadie was then driven in by Hanna Wilkerson who laced a single.
Hinds extended their lead to 4-1 in the top of the seventh by way of a Sadie Parker leadoff triple followed by a Natalie Parker double.
 
After surrendering their lead in the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Eagles put up four runs on the Lady Bengals in the top of the ninth inning.
The ninth-inning offensive onslaught was powered by a leadoff bunt-single by Sadie Parker, which moved the International tie-breaker runner, Kat Bruner, to third. Hanna Wilkerson followed that up with a two-RBI single. Ashley Lopez then singled herself before Jessica Deming cracked a two-run double giving Hinds an 8-4 lead and eventual victory.

Offensive leaders
Kat Bruner: |R-1|
Cheeks: |BB-1|R-1|
Sadie Parker: AB-5|H-3|3B-1|R-3|SB-2|
Natalie Parker: AB-5|H-2|2B-2|RBI-1|R-1|
Hanna Wilkerson: AB-5|H-2|RBI-3|R-1|
Ashley Lopez: AB-4|H-3|R-1|BB-1|
Jessica Deming: AB-5|H-2|2B-1|RBI-3|

Pitching Leaders
(ND) Cassidy Rhea: IP-6.1|H-6|K-4|BB-6|R-4|
(W) Natalie Parker: IP-2.2|H-0|K-4|BB-1|R-0|

With the two victories, Hinds improves to 4-2 overall on the season.
 
 
 
 
Lady Eagles wrap up non-conference play with a sweep of BRCC
 
RAYMOND – The Lady Eagles softball team (8-6) swept a two game set against Baton Rouge Community College (4-10) on Monday afternoon, March 2^nd. The Lady Eagles scored 16 runs on the day, beating BRCC in walk-off fashion game one by a score of 3-2 and then game two by a score of 13-7.
 
Game one was highlighted by a stellar pitching performance by Cassidy Rhea (West Monroe, LA). The sophomore notched a sure quality start as she went six innings while striking out seven and giving up only two runs on five hits. The game was tied at two runs apiece headed into the final frame as freshman, Katherine Bruner (Brandon), crushed a lead-off triple to get the Lady Eagles going. Another freshman, Savannah Bryant (Mize), would then deliver the finishing blow in the form of a sacrifice fly to lead the Lady Eagles to a walk-off win in game one.
 
Game One Leaders (Hitting)
Natalie Parker: AB – 4 | H – 3 | R – 1 | RBI – 1 | 2B – 1
Hanna Wilkerson: AB – 3 | H – 1 | RBI – 1  
Rebekah Fields: AB – 2 | H – 1 | R – 1
 
Game One Leaders (Pitching)
Cassidy Rhea: IP – 6 | SO – 7 | H – 5 | R – 2 | ER – 2 | BB – 0
Ashley Lopez: IP – 1 | H – 1 | R – 0 | ER – 0 | BB – 0
 

Game two on the day was a much different story as the Lady Eagles exploded for 13 runs, 15 hits, and six doubles. Every batter in the lineup collected a hit and eight of nine hitters crossed the plate at-least once. Brennan Newell (Florence) crushed two doubles as Natalie Parker (Denham Springs, LA), Ashley Lopez (Zachary, LA), Rebekah Fields (Corinth), and Savannah Bryant all hit one a piece.
Natalie Parker, Hannah Wilkerson (Lake), and Rebekah Fields all drove in two RBI's a piece while Katherine Bruner drove in three of her own.
This offensive eruption led to a season high in runs, hits, and doubles for the Lady Eagles.
 
Game Two Leaders (Hitting)
Brennan Newell: AB – 4 | H – 2 | RBI – 1 | 2B – 2
Katherine Bruner: AB – 5 | H – 2 | R – 1 | RBI – 3
Natalie Parker: AB – 4 | H – 1 | R – 3 | RBI – 2 | 2B – 1 | BB – 1
Ashley Lopez: AB – 5 | H – 3 | R – 2 | RBI – 1 | 2B – 1 | BB – 1
Hanna Wilkerson: AB – 4 | H – 2 | R – 1 | RBI – 2
Rebekah Fields: AB – 1 | H – 1 | R – 1 | RBI – 2 | 2B – 1 | BB – 2
 
Game Two Leaders (Pitching)
Natalie Parker: IP – 3 | SO – 2 | H – 2 | R – 1 | ER – 1 | BB – 2
 
"This was a great way to finish up non-conference play. These games will give us a ton of energy and confidence as we head into a very important stretch of our season," commented head coach Mike Grzanich.
 
 
 
 
Head Coach Mike Grzanich will look to continue recent success in the 2021 season.
 
Follow the Lady Eagles on twitter @LadyEagleSFBL and on Instragram @hindsccsoftball