Lady Hornets Suffer 9th Inning Walk Off Against Troy

By: Ed Weaver  /  April 18, 2026

Troy rallied to edge the Wellsboro Varsity Softball team 9-8 in walk-off fashion in the 9th inning Friday afternoon.

The teams split the season series as the Lady Hornets edged Troy 9-8 earlier in the month.

Wellsboro got out of the gate quickly as freshman Haylie Smith led off the game with a bunt single, then later scored on a passed ball. Later in the 3rd sophomore Hannah Taylor drew a lead off walk then crossed home plate on a base hit from sophomore Rylee Coolidge.

The Lady Hornets' offense continued to moving into the 4th. In the top half of the inning they scored twice more. Sophomore Delaney Morral drew a one-out walk then sophomore Kaylee Frazier reached on an error to put two aboard. A bunt single from Taylor advanced both runners over for Smith to drive them home on a single to center field. Wellsboro held a 4-0 lead over Troy heading into the bottom of the 4th.

That's when Troy started to chip away at Wellsboro's lead.

Troy scored once in the 4th to get on the scoreboard, then added six runs in two innings. Wellsboro sandwiched a run in between Troy's rally in the top of the 6th after Morral connected on a single to make it 4-1. Troy then scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to cut Wellsboro's lead down to 5-4. The Lady Hornets scored twice in the 7th, both coming off Troy errors that allowed Smith and sophomore Adelyn Frantz to reach base. Smith crossed home plate then a double from sophomore Teagan Novinger scored Frantz to make it a 7-4 game, only to have Troy plate three runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie it up at 7-all.

Wellsboro got a pair of runners aboard in the 8th but Troy worked themselves out of the jam as they picked off a Wellsboro base runner to prevent any further damage. Frantz then retired the side in order in the bottom of the 8th, sending the game to the 9th.

The Lady Hornets went down in order in the top of the 9th. In the bottom half of the inning Troy's Aleiyah Kutt was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Delaney Kendall reentered the game as a courtesy runner for Kutt. She crossed home plate for the game's winning run on a base hit from Lauren Reed.

Taylor and Morral both finished 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Lady Hornets while Smith finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Coolidge (1-for-5), Novinger (1-for-4) and freshman Paityn Biery (1-for-4) made up the remainder of Wellsboro's 9 hits.

Frantz went the distance on the mound, scattering 9 hits with 3 walks and 16 strikeouts.

Erin Knapp threw a complete game for Troy, striking out 9 and walking two on 9 hits.

Reed finished 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs to lead Troy offensively.

The loss drops the Lady Hornets to 5-5 (3-5 NTL Large School Division). The team is back in action this afternoon for a non-league game with Hughesville.