DACULA, GA - The Hebron Christian Academy softball team is off to a hot start, winning its first four games of the season.
Unfortunately for the Lions, weather has forced either the postponement or cancellation of multiple match ups, cutting the amount of games-played, so far, in half.
However, they've made the most of fair weather, especially when it comes to hitting the long ball.
In just four games, six different players have knocked a home run, those being seniors Brittyn Sissom and Lauren Kyranakis, junior Leah Jensen, and sophomores Gabby Raysor, Brylee Autry and Juliahna Huber.
"This is actually the first year that we're relying on some power. We're pretty strong physically, and we're just looking for our pitch to hit and swinging violently," head coach Brittany Lewis said.
Lewis credited the power to the experience the Lions have, with just one freshman in the batting order, Hebron has eight returning bats, all of which have plenty of pop.
In Hebron's last game against Bethlehem Christian on Monday, Aug. 18, Sissom, Kyranakis and Raysor each went yard, their firsts of the year, leading the Lions to a 9-3 win over the Knights.
Raysor's was a high-flying three-run bomb to center field in the bottom of the first inning, which gave Hebron a 3-0 lead. Kyranakis's round-tripper was a deep fly-ball to left, scoring two in the second. Just one batter later, Sissom got in the action with a solo-shot to extend the Lions' lead to 6-0, and forcing the Knights to make a pitching change.
Hebron added four more extra-base hits in the six-run win, three doubles (Ainsley Trenbeath, Autry, Raysor) and a triple (Huber).
Overall, the Lions notched 11 hits to Bethlehem's three.
Aside from the extra-base power, Hebron is sporting a team batting average (BA) of .436 across 41 hits with only seven strikeouts (K).
In the circle against the Knights, sophomore pitcher Kate Kennedy earned the win, tossing six complete innings, while allowing just one hit and one run, and striking out eight batters.
This outing nearly matched Kennedy's previous one, when she threw her first no-hitter (five innings) with eight K's in Hebron's 9-0 win over Apalachee High School on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Kennedy has pitched well this season. As the Lions' ace, she has already eaten through 20.2 innings, while sporting a 2.71 earned-run-average with 27 K's.
"She's [Kennedy] done great. She's really worked on her mentality in the circle, so she's pretty mentally tough, which I think is the most important thing," Lewis said. "We definitely have to sure up our ball-to-strike ratio, but nobody is really hitting her hard, so hopefully that gives her confidence to put the ball over the white a little bit more."
Spotting pitches and finding the zone, especially early in games, has been Kennedy's one struggle. Over her 20-plus innings, she has walked 27 batters.
However, the young arm has allowed just 13 hits, and typically settles in as each game progresses.
Hebron will be back in action this Wednesday, Aug. 20, when the Lions host Madison County at Cole Complex.
First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
