New Palestine High School

The New Palestine softball team struggled at the plate against one of the state's elite pitchers Thursday, falling 5-0 to Class 4A No. 7 Hamilton Southeastern at home. Facing senior pitcher Grace Swedarsky - a Virginia Tech commit - the Dragons had three baserunners in the game. Kenna Tweedy drew a one-out walk in the third inning but was stranded. In the fourth, Saydie Miller and Amber Hurt led off with back-to-back singles, but an out on the basepaths led to one out, and the next two batters struck out to end the threat. HSE took advantage of some fortunate bounces - five of the Royals' 10 hits were infield hits - but they provided traffic on the bases that led to runs. A single to the circle, an error and a passed ball led to the Royals taking a 1-0 lead in the second. In the fifth, an infield hit and a two-out double doubled their lead. They added another in the sixth by beating out a slow chopper in front of home, and adding another one-out double. Hughbanks recorded back-to-back strikeouts to strand runners and second and third. Another infield hit and a two-run homer made it 5-0 in the seventh. Hughbanks struck out seven and allowed four earned runs in the contest. The Dragons are now 5-1 on the season. They continue their five-games-in-five-days stretch Friday at Carmel.