Homer then a Homan

FORT RECOVERY — The Blackhawks were threatening to break the tie.

Jackie Homan shut them down, and Maddie Guggenbiller ended the deadlock instead.

Guggenbiller hit a two-run home run to break a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning and Homan retired all but two of the 15 batters she faced pitching in relief as the Fort Recovery High School softball team rallied past the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks for a 7-2 victory Friday night.

“I feel pretty good,” FRHS coach Ryan Thien, whose team hosts the Bath Wildcats at 11 a.m. today, said of his team’s 3-1 start to the season. “We kind of get off to a cold start. I wish we’d get off to a bit of a warmer start. Hopefully once the weather warms up … we’ll do that.”

Mississinawa Valley (0-4), which scored a run in the top of the first inning on a Taylor Collins RBI single, tied the score at 2-2 in when Mackenzie Hamilton drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk off FRHS starter Britney Tebbe in the third inning.

Thien switched to Homan, who threw three straight pitches past MVHS leadoff hitter Jocelyn Hoggatt to get out of the jam.

Two innings later, Chloey Grisez began Fort Recovery’s offense with a bloop single down the right-field line. On a 1-0 count, Guggenbiller blasted her third home run of the season by sending a towering shot over the scoreboard in left field.

“That hit was huge,” Thien said. “It definitely created the spark we needed. We were hitting the ball hard. A lot of at bats (we were) just hitting it right at people.”

Guggenbiller, who singled in the first inning and hit an RBI double in the sixth, finished a triple shy of the cycle and collected four RBIs.

The Indians weren’t done scoring after Guggenbiller’s homer, either.

Kensey Gaerke rifled a double to left-center with one out, and then Abby Knapke ripped a liner to the same spot to score Knapke as the Indians nabbed a 5-2 advantage.

Jackie Homan, who was 2-for-4, hit a scorching grounder down the third base line in the top of the sixth to score Brenna Homan, who reached on a bunt and advanced to second on a stolen base.

“That rip down third she had, that definitely helped,” Thien said of Jackie Homan. “She’s been hitting the ball hard all year. Finally to get a nice hit like that really helped out.”

Offensively the Indians racked up 13 hits, including six doubles, with Grisez and the Homans each turning in multi-hit days.

Mississinawa Valley, meanwhile, managed just two hits off Jackie Homan after totaling eight in 2 2/3 innings off Britney Tebbe.

At one point, Homan retired nine straight Blackhawks, including three consecutive strikeouts. Madi Townsend and Kenzea Townsend were the only two MVHS players to reach base off her.

“She (doesn’t) need much time to warm up,” Thien said. “She can throw it anytime, anywhere.

“Britney, she didn’t have her great stuff today but she pitched well enough the first couple innings to keep us in the game.

“Then Jackie came in and just shut them down.”

Homan struck out eight and didn’t issue a walk in 4 1/3 innings of relief. Tebbe fanned two, walked one and surrendered two earned runs on eight hits.

Kenzea Townsend led the Blackhawk offense with three hits, while Madi Townsend and Hoggatt had two hits apiece.