By GARY STALLARD
AC Athletics
The Angelina College softball team opened its offensive attack with a homer – and they finished the day with one as well.
Lady Roadrunner Kiriany Hornberger led off the bottom of the first inning in the opener with a majestic blast over the centerfield wall. Brette Kohring finished off the nightcap with a three-run, walk-off shot. In between, the Lady ‘Runners combined for 25 runs on six homers in sweeping Trinity Valley Community College 16-4 and 9-0 at Roadrunner Complex in Lufkin.
Emilee Cernosek homered in each game, launching a two-run shot two batters after Hornberger’s leadoff homer in the opener. In that first inning, the Lady Roadrunners sent 13 batters to the plate to build a 7-0 lead following their first at-bat.
The Lady Cardinals’ Brianna Kinnard lifted a two-run homer over the left field wall in the second inning, but AC’s bats were just warming up. Rachel Agnello homered in the bottom of the second for an 8-3 AC lead, and Sydney Brown added a three-run job in the third. In the fourth, Agnello added a two-run single to go with Megan Kirchhoff’s two-run single.
Pitcher Shelby Mixon won her 10th game of the season, which is second-best in the Region XIV East Zone.
In the nightcap, Cernosek bopped her second homer of the day, a two-run opposite-field job in the first inning. Cernosek drove in another run with a single in the third for a 3-0 AC lead, and Nikki Whitehead added an RBI single in the fourth. In the bottom of the sixth, with AC leading 4-0, the Lady ‘Runners closed out the mercy-rule win with RBI from Agnello and Sydney Brown, followed by Kohring’s walk-off, three-run homer over the left-center wall.
AC pitcher Leigh Luker extended her shutout streak to four straight games, dropping her ERA to the sub-2.00 level.
The Lady Roadrunners (17-8, 5-3) travel to Kilgore College on Saturday. That doubleheader starts at 1 p.m. AC returns home on Wednesday, March 28 against Parish College. Game time for the opener of the twin bill is 3 p.m. at Roadrunner Complex.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
