A Todd County Central High School junior is making a case to be the 4th Region Player of the Year. She proved it again Thursday in the Rebels’ 14-2 victory over Hopkinsville.
Samantha Case, who walked twice and went 1-for-2 with a game-high three runs, set the table all night as Todd surged to a run-shortened, five-inning win and kept the visiting Tigers winless in Elkton.
During the past four games, all played within the past week, Case is hitting .636 with five runs, two RBIs, two walks, and two stolen bases. Another hot-hitting Rebel — sophomore Abigail McPherson — also continued to swing a strong bat, finishing the night 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, and three runs scored of her own. Six different players delivered hits for TCCHS.
Case got the scoring for Todd Central, drawing a lead-off walk in the first inning and later scoring on one of four Tiger errors. That sequence led to Rebel runs during each of their next five at-bats. Addison Woodall’s sac fly capped the streak with a sac fly that brought in Shaeleina Wade and put HHS in a 5-0 hole.
The Rebels proceeded to load the bases in the second inning and brought in four more runs on a walk, two errors, and a passed ball. An RBI groundout by Jocelyn Mock later gave Todd its 14th unanswered run.
Maddie Williams (1-0), who started in the circle and earned her first win of the year, worked just 2 1/3 innings. She fanned a pair and allowed just one walk and one hit. Haylee Vass was charged with the only two Tiger runs, which came on a two-out, two-run single from Hopkinsville junior Morgan Hodge in the fifth inning. But it was not enough to extend the contest.
Freshman pitcher Hannah Thorson walked a half-dozen batters and surrendered 11 runs (seven earned) in the circle for Hoptown (0-2), which was playing just its second game of the season, following a COVID-related team quarantine.
The Tigers did manage to bang out five hits — all singles — in Thursday’s defeat. Junior catcher Kaitlyn Kaetzel had one of those, finishing 1-for-2 with a walk.
Todd County Central (5-3) has four days off before resuming its regular-season schedule April 19 at Butler County. The Rebels are seeking their best start to a season since 2016.