MONTGOMERY – Bedford North Lawrence’s temperature gauge spiked on Tuesday afternoon.
The Stars continued their torrid streak, winning their fourth straight, as Kendall Graves went supernova during an impressive 9-1 victory over Barr-Reeve. Graves hammered out three hits and drove in five runs as BNL (15-7) won for the sixth time in the last seven games.
Graves ripped another home run (her sixth of the season), and Bella Warren went 3-for-3, while Karsyn Coleman (7-4) went the distance in the circle.
Nobody has been on fire like Graves, on her way to Butler. During the last three games, she has slugged four homers. During the last four games, she has driven in 12 runs. She’s now batting a crisp .514 with 21 RBIs.
“There’s nobody in the state hotter than her right now,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “She’s been seeing the ball well all year, and she’s getting some pitches she can do some damage with. We’ve all focused on hitting the ball right in the middle, line drives, and she’s really locked in on making solid contact. The ball is just jumping off her bat, which is exciting to see.”
BNL scored twice in the first as Tori Nikirk singled and Graves blasted a two-run shot to center. She came through again in the fourth with a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double for a 5-0 lead.
Warren smacked a two-run single in the fifth, and Ava Ratliff’s double set up a two-run tally in the sixth.
BNL totaled 16 hits. Nikirk and Adalynn Bailey had two each, while Warren’s breakout game jumped off the box score. After collecting only eight hits in the first 20 games of the season, she has totaled five in the last two games.
“All of our kids are working hard on their swings and making adjustments, trying to get better, and it’s starting to click with Bella,” Gilbert said. “It’s exciting to see different people coming through at different times. Hopefully we can get it all together, get everyone to click at the same time.
”We took a few innings to get adjusted, then we started getting the bat on the ball a little better and scored some runs.”
The Vikings (7-4) got on the board when Hallie Knepp slugged a solo homer leading off the sixth.
BNL will visit Jennings County on Thursday
