Destin's Lady Marlins blank Pryor Pirates in softball, Kirby knocks homer

Gretchen Kirby blasted one out of the park in the first inning to set the stage for a 11-0 blowout of the Pryor Pirates in middle school softball action April 7 in Destin.

Kirby, a sixth-grader, cleared the left field fence and hit the football bleachers for her first homer as a middle schooler. 

Kirby finished up the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs. 

"They did really well, both on offense and defense,” Destin coach Kati O’Brian said as she walked off the field. 

"They hit the ball really well, but it took a couple of innings to get the bats going … but once we got it going, we lit it up,” O’Brian said. 

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Destin had 10 hits. In addition to Kirby’s three, Shelby Plasier had two hits. Others with one each were Hannah Isham, Mykean Pope, Anna Beyhl, Macy Borgen and Kendra Ayers. 

As for the defense, the Marlins only had one error. 

“We worked really hard on defense in practice,” O’Brian said. 

“When you have a rock-solid defense, you feel comfortable,” she added, noting she’s big on defense. 

Manning the pitching circle for Destin was seventh-grader Izzy Douglas, who faced 18 batters, struck out 12 and gave up only one hit and one walk. 

Destin scored one run in the first on the solo shot from Kirby, then picked up another run in the third. 

In the fourth, Destin scored five on four hits and one Pryor error. 

In the fifth, the Lady Marlins finished the game with four runs. Borgen doubled in two runs and Kirby knocked in the last two runs on a shot to center field. 

“They did really well executing on both sides of the ball. I’m very proud of them,” O’Brian said. 

Destin posted another big win on April 8 with a 7-2 victory over the Bruner Spartans. Isham and Douglas had multiple hits for Destin.