May 26—With one swing of her bat, Daniel Boone leadoff hitter Hailey Kaba made sure the Blazers wouldn’t get shut out again.
Kaba hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday in Birdsboro to spark Daniel Boone to a 3-2 win over Gettysburg in a District 3 Class 5A softball first-round game.
Daniel Boone had been limited to one hit in its previous game against Twin Valley in the Berks County championship game. It was the only time all season the Blazers (17-3) were shut out.
“I think it set the tone for the game,” Kaba said. “We were really down after the county championship.”
Daniel Boone built an early lead but had to hold on behind the three-hit pitching of Dani Hayes, who earlier in the day was announced as the Berks County Player of the Year.
Daniel Boone outhit Gettysburg 11-3 but hit into bad luck most of the day. Still, the Blazers had enough to advance to a home game Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to face 12th-seeded Exeter, an 8-5 winner over Northern York.
“It was the perfect storm for them to stay in the game,” said Daniel Boone coach Lee Trythall.
The Blazers were denied a big inning in the first when center fielder Abby Hurst reached over the fence to rob a two-run homer from Hannah Cassner.