West Hancock slugs two home runs, hurls complete game one-hit shutout in victory over Western

BARRY, Ill. — The Lauren Stevenson show took center stage at the Western softball field on Thursday.

Stevenson, a freshman right-handed pitcher, belted two home runs, drove in all of West Hancock’s runs and tossed a complete-game one-hit shutout in the Titans’ 4-0 victory.

Her first home run, a solo shot to center field in the fourth, was the Titans’ first hit of the game and gave them a 1-0 lead. 

Stevenson faced the minimum in the fifth and sixth innings, then came to the plate with runners on first and third with one out. Two pitches after Bailie Montgomery stole second, Stevenson cranked her second home run to center field to give herself three runs of insurance.

Stevenson worked around an error in the bottom of the seventh to retire the final three batters of the game. She struck out six, walked one and threw 66 of her 95 pitches for strikes in her first career seven-inning shutout. The only hit she surrendered was a leadoff double in third inning to Rachel McMullen, a University of Illinois-Springfield commit.

West Hancock (11-13) will face Beardstown in the Class 2A Illini West Regional semifinals on May 21. Western will play host to Pleasant Hill in regional semifinal action on the same day.