New Palestine High School

Amber Hurt's seventh-inning single plated Payton Dye with the go-ahead run Thursday, leading the Class 3A No. 4 New Palestine softball team to a 3-2 road victory at conference foe Mt. Vernon. The Dragons improved to 8-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. With the game tied 2-2, Dye led the inning off with a line-drive double to right on a 2-2 pitch. Hurt then singled to bring home Dye with the go-ahead run. Pitcher Sadey Hughbanks then retired the Marauders in order in the bottom of the inning to nail down the victory. The Dragons tallied nine hits in the contest, which was a tight game throughout. Cara Steele and Saydie Miller were each 2-for-4 with a run scored, batting in the fourth and fifth spots in the lineup. Miller also hit a double. Callie Cromwell (1-4), Dye (1-3, 2B, R), Hurt (1-4, RBI), Claire Fitzgerald (1-4, 2 RBI) and Tessa Mohr (1-3, 2B) also had hits for the Dragons. The Dragons threatened in the top of the first but left two runners on base. MV quickly answered with a run on two hits in the bottom of the frame to take a 1-0 lead. After Hughbanks stranded a runner in the bottom of the third in the circle, the Dragons took the lead in the fourth, as Steele led off with a single and Miller followed with a double, putting two Dragons in scoring position with none out. Fitzgerald then lined a two-run single up the middle to put the Dragons on top. A walk and a bunt put two more runners in scoring position, but a strikeout and popout allowed MV to get out of the inning without further scoring. NP again had two hits in the fifth and a runner in scoring position in the sixth, but the score remained 2-1. Hughbanks retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced between the second and fifth innings, but MV knotted the game up in the sixth on a leadoff double, bunt and sacrifice fly, setting the stage for the Dragons to win the game in the seventh. Hughbanks allowed four hits and two earned runs in a complete-game win. She struck out five batters. The Dragons play their ninth game in 11 days Friday when they host Zionsville.