Heading into their regular season finale against De Soto in Stoddard last Monday, May 18, the Wauzeka-Steuben Hornets needed a win over the Pirates to earn a share of the Ridge & Valley Conference Championship for a third consecutive season.

The Pirates jumped out in front first with one run in the bottom of the first inning. The score would remain 1-0 until the top of the third inning when the Hornets tied it up 1-1. Wauzeka-Steuben would go on to score four runs in the top of the fourth inning and two more in the top of the sixth inning as the Hornets defeated De Soto by the score of 7 to 1.

Brianna Ray earned the win after allowing one run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched.

The Hornets offense had nine hits in the game, with multiple hit games from Ray (2-for-4 with a double and one run scored), Isabella Bunders (3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs) and Molli Hooker (2-for-4 with one RBI). Alayna Krachey hit a double in the win, while Madyson Schambow added a single.

The Hornets traveled to Muscoda three days later to wrap up the regular season with a non-conference contest against Riverdale. The host Chieftains took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Hornets cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the fourth inning but Riverdale answered with three runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning to make the score 5-1. W-S got one run back in the top of the fifth but the hosts once again responded by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 10-2 which would go on to be the final score.

Ray (five runs allowed (two earned) on five hits and one walk with one strikeout in 2.0 innings pitched) took the loss in the pitching circle with Devyn Allert (five runs allowed (four earned) on seven hits and zero walks with zero strikeouts in 3.0 innings pitched) and Krachey (zero runs allowed on zero hits and one walk with zero strikeouts in 1.0 inning pitched) finishing the game in the pitcher’s circle. The Hornets finished the regular season with an overall record of 13-4.

The Hornets earned a three seed in their D5 half sectional and began the postseason on Tuesday, May 26 when they hosted six seed Argyle/Black Hawk in a D5 regional semifinal.