HRV ace Hannah McNerney isn’t in the habit of giving up many hits or runs to opposing batters, but Tuesday’s home match against The Dalles was one of her stingiest performances of the season.
The Eagles (13-8, 7-1 Columbia River Conference) shut out The Dalles (3-18, 2-7) 6-0 at the Ballpark at Belmont, thanks in part due to McNerney’s season-high 13 strikeouts that prevented The Dalles from getting anything going. She allowed just four hits in her complete game — two of which came at the end of her shift in the seventh inning.
“Hannah threw a beautiful game,” said HRV Head Coach Eric Keller. “Continually kept The Dalles off balance at the plate, working the ball on both sides of the plate.”
That pitching was needed especially through the first five innings, as HRV’s offense struggled to score. However, Zoe Munn’s (3-for-3, singles, two RBIs) hard ground ball to left field that plated Lauren Decker (1-for-3, single) in the bottom of the first was all the Eagles needed for the win. They added three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to put the game to bed.
McNerney and Makena Zeller also had notable performances at the dish. McNerney went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a team-high four RBIs, while Zeller singled twice in her three at bats.
Keller also lauded the fielding of his athletes, particularly Makenzie Chambers, who laid out to catch “a bloop pop fly” for an out.
The Eagles traveled to Hermiston (7-15, 1-8) on Friday (results unavailable at press time), then return home for an important meeting with Pendleton (19-3, 7-1) Tuesday afternoon that will almost certainly decide who receives the CRC crown. The day will start at 3 p.m. to finish an April 25 game that was postponed halfway through the fourth inning due to rain. The Eagles have some work to do in that one, as they were trailing 4-0 at the time the game was called. After that, they will play another game that was already on the schedule for 4:30 p.m.
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