Grace Meyer picked a nice game to hit 3 home runs.
The Seymour senior blasted 3 balls over the fence Monday to spark the Owls to a 10-0 win over Charlestown on Senior Night.
Prior to the start of the game, senior players Meyer, Stephanni Kleber, Alyssa Perry, Camryn Reichenbacker and Tori Schapker, senior manager Zach Thompson and their families were introduced.
Owls coach Jerry Burton said, “The seniors have been a big, big part of this program. We missed (last) year but they’ve been a big part of the success that we’ve had. They are a really good group, not only good players but I’ve really enjoyed coaching them. I’m really going to miss this group.”
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Meyer’s home runs came in the first, fourth and fifth innings to give her 8 home runs for the season. Her homer in the fifth ended the game on the 10-run rule.
Meyer said she had been in a little bit of a slump, and that it felt good to hit the homers. She said this is the first time she has ever hit 3 home runs in a game.
“I was seeing the ball really well,” she said. “I had been in a little bit of a slump lately, so to pick it back up and get a good team win feels really good, and on senior night,” she said.
Kynadee Warner led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and she scored on Meyer’s homer that hit the top of the fence in center field and went over.
In the third inning, Warner doubled to left-center and scored on Perry’s single. Meyer was safe on a fielder’s choice and she scored on a single by Kleber.
With one out in the fifth, Reichenbacker singled and scored on a double by Kendall Allman. Allman was replaced at second base by Warner, and Meyer homered to help the Owls raise their record to 10-5.
“I’ve been trying to hit the ball to center and right-center to get my barrel back out in front of it, and tonight it was on,” Meyer said.
“It felt really good to get ourselves back into it, get some hits, and get going because we’ve been struggling to get the offense going. We either score in the first inning or score in the last inning. We’ve just got to keep it consistent throughout the entire game.”
Burton said this is the first time he has had a player hit 3 home runs in a game since 2002 when he was coaching at Columbus East.
“It doesn’t happen very often. Grace was going with the pitch. She just had good swings.”
The Owls lost twice Saturday at New Palestine, and Burton said, “They did what they needed to do tonight. We’re going to need to step it up a little more (today at Floyd Central). It’s a big game. We’re both undefeated in the conference. We better come ready to play.”
Sydney Stewart pitched the first 3 innings and allowed 2 singles, struck out 3 and didn’t walk any, and Kleber allowed 1 hit with 5 strike outs in her 2 innings of work.
Burton said, “Our pitchers did a very good job. Our defense was very solid.”
Seven Owls combined to get 11 hits. Burton said, “We’re going to need a lot of offense because it’s hard to score runs if you don’t have everyone in the lineup have good at bats. That’s something that we’ve struggled with that we really need to pick it up.”