LACROSSE | Hebron's Alyssa Spore has been on fire at the plate lately, and there was nothing South Central could do to extinguish her scorching bat.
Spore had a perfect game at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI to lead the Times No. 9 Hawks to a 14-4 win over South Central in the championship game of the Porter County Conference Tournament at LaCrosse.
"Right now, when I hit the ball and I'm on a roll, it just keeps my streak going," Spore said. "It makes me feel way more confident."
All day long, the Hawks found a way to tack on crooked numbers, including their 14-1 first-round victory against Kouts and 5-0 semifinal win over Hanover Central earlier in the day.
The Hawks put up five runs in the bottom of the first inning -- a rally led by Spore -- who hit a one-out single to begin the damage. The hitting simply became contagious after that.
"She can hit for power, or she can lay down a bunt and beat it out," Hebron coach Mike McLindon said of Spore. "It's so nice to have her. You can do whatever you want -- the sky is the limit with her."
McLindon was pleased with the way his team played during the entire tournament.
"I can't say enough about them," he said. "They wanted it. Since day one, they were hungry. Every team in this conference is tough, and they know that. They had to play at a high level."
Hebron's offense didn't let up after the first inning. The Hawks (16-4, 7-0 PCC) added three runs in the second inning, capped by an RBI single from Laura MacNeill.
South Central, however, couldn't muster many threats. Hebron pitcher Mollie Lindeman avoided big innings for the Satellites, and the Hawks simply kept tacking on insurance runs behind her.
"Since day one, we've just been backing each other up and doing what needs to be done," McLindon said.
"Like I told the girls, this is just a milestone -- a road marker of where we want to get to."
With the Satellites (13-10, 5-2) in an 8-0 hole after two innings, there wasn't much that could be done to come back.
"Hebron probably has the fastest pitcher we saw out of all the schools, and she was on her game today," S.C. coach Richard Patterson said. "We didn't get hits and we made too many errors, and that cost us the game."
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