Harrisburg bats stay hot in win over Hamilton County

Harrisburg got a grand slam from Karsyn Davis and Madeline Rider as the two combined for the 11 RBI in a 19-7 win over Hamilton County Tuesday afternoon.
Davis, who will play her college ball at Southeast Missouri State University next fall, was 3-for-4 with six RBI and smacked a grand slam to right centerfield in the third inning.
Rider, who will play her college ball at Western Kentucky University next season, was 4-for-4 with five RBI and ripped a grand slam to left field in the fifth inning.
It was a day that Harrisburg (9-0) head coach Red Stafford joked that scoring 19 runs makes his job a lot easier.
"The competition is going to get tougher as we keep moving along," Stafford said. "Hamilton County is a really good softball team and I'm surprise4d we put up 19 runs, cause one through nine, they can hit the ball."
Hamilton County jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Bulldogs responded with eight runs that Stafford admits took the wind out of the Foxes sails.
"This is a Hamilton County team that just recently knocked off Pinckneyville, but I was really proud of how we continued to battle. We can hit the ball to, but on defense, we have to clean up a few things behind (Kerrigan) Payne. She did a really good job for us in the circle today."
Payne improved to 8-0 as she went five innings and allowed seven runs (five earned) on eight hits, while striking out two and walking three.
Meanwhile, Payne was 1-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, while Lexi Williams and Haley Sullivan were both 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Mackenzie Marshall was 1-for-1 with an RBI.
Harrisburg is slated to play at Du Quoin tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m. and will host Plano on Thursday, followed by a home game against Eldorado on Friday. The Bulldogs will close out the week, playing host to Union County, Ky., and Pope County on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.