SPECIAL DELIVERY: Hun School softball player Lexi Kobryn delivers a pitch in recent action. Last Saturday, freshman Kobryn had six strikeouts, no walks, yielded six hits and one run in five innings as Hun defeated the Blair Academy 11-1. She helped herself at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs and three RBIs as the Raiders improved to 4-1. Hun hosts the Hill School (Pa.) on April 21 before playing at Penn Charter (Pa.) on April 24 and at the Peddie School on April 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After the Hun School softball team got blanked 4-0 by the Lawrenceville School last Wednesday, Lexi Kobryn and her Raider teammates were determined to get offensive.

“We took it to heart, the next couple days of practice, we had a purpose,” said Hun freshman standout Kobryn. “We really focused on our hitting.”

Hosting the Blair Academy last Saturday, the Raiders didn’t waste any time showing the fruits of their labor, scoring four runs in the first inning on the way to an 11-1 victory and improving to 4-1.

“We just showed Blair we are here to play,” said Kobryn, noting that Hun had defeated Blair 1-0 a week earlier.

“From our 1-0 game against them with same pitcher [Mallory Allen], that wasn’t good enough.”

Kobryn, for her part, helped get the hit parade going, pounding out a run-scoring single in the first inning to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, she blasted a triple to left center to plate two more runs, not content to get a base on balls.

“The three balls got me, it was a 3-1 count and I am not letting her walk me,” said Kobryn, who ended the day going 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs. “I hit the next pitch; I thought it was going over. It felt nice.”

Handling the pitching for the Raiders, Kobryn did a nice job in the circle, coming up with six strikeouts, no walks, yielding six hits and one run in five innings of work as the game ended in the fifth on the 10-run rule.

“I came out and I just wanted to shut them down and I did,” said Kobryn. “My curve and my screwball were working, I threw a lot of that today.”

Kobryn has been sharing the mound duties for Hun this spring with fellow freshman Jamie Staub and the tandem has been thriving.

“We get along very well and it is good to not just have the pressure on one person,” said Kobryn. “It is good to always have someone back there who can help you out.”

Things have been going well overall for Kobryn in joining the Hun program. “It has been good, I really like the team and the coaches,” said Kobryn. “I am always excited to come to practice and the games every day.”

Hun head coach Kathy Quirk was excited by her squad’s batting prowess in the win over Blair.

“We have been spending the past three days just hitting,” said Quirk, whose team pounded out 15 hits on the day with Nora Shea going 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs, leadoff hitter Kat Xiong going 3-for-4 with two runs, and Staub contributing two hits, one run, and one RBI.

“We have hardly done any fielding, we have done tee work and we watched a video. When Kat led off with the first hit, that set the tone. They all were hitting. It is the first time I think we have ever beaten Blair by 10 runs. It is always a close game.”

Quirk liked the way Kobryn shut down the Blair hitters with her pitching.

“I thought Lexi did a great job on the mound today,” said Quirk. “She showed great composure.”

The team’s freshman pitching duo has been doing a great job for the Raiders.

“It has been nice to be able to rotate the two of them; I have never done it before and I have always said I am going to,” said Quirk, noting that Kobryn stars at shortstop when she isn’t pitching. “They both throw different pitches.”

With Hun having won four of its five games this spring, Quirk believes her squad can have a very nice season.

“I am happy at the way we are playing; we were disappointed in the Lawrenceville game because in the sixth inning we had the bases loaded and no outs,” said Quirk, whose team hosts the Hill School (Pa.) on April 21 before playing at Penn Charter (Pa.) on April 24, and at the Peddie School on April 27.

“We just couldn’t capitalize but that is OK. I think we learned from it and we have been working hard from it. I am hoping we will keep capitalizing like we did today.”

Kobryn, for her part, believes Hun will keep up the good work.

“We have been playing well every game and if we play the same way, we will make it far,” said Kobryn.

“We just have to keep up our hitting, we were just building on each other today. We have been solid in the field so we need to keep that up too.”