Viqueen first baseman Karly Joslyn prepares to scoop a low throw for an out against the Lady Hornets. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge]

Brittany Haynes struck out 10 and Amber Woods and Bianca Maselter each had two hits and two runs scored to lead the Community Viqueens to an 8-6 win over Huntland on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon in Unionville.

The offense had a good day, but the Purple and Gold defense shined by making several outstanding plays behind their freshman left-hander to run their win streak to four.

"It took us a little while, but I think that we finally have some players in the right positions now," first-year Community coach Libby Frost said. "It's true that defense wins games and we have severely limited our mistakes on that side of the ball and as a result we are giving ourselves a better chance of winning ballgames.

"We continue to hit the ball and Brittany continues to improve with every outing and we are starting to believe in ourselves."

The Viqueens put together a six-run third inning behind Amber Woods' single, an error and a two-run double by eighth grader Jordan Stewart. Two walks later, Ashley Farris scorched one into the left-center field gap for a triple to clear the bases.

The Lady Hornets chipped away to pull to within a run in the top of the sixth only to have Woods leg out a hit and Karly Joslyn plate her with a ringing double over the center fielder's head for a clutch insurance run.

Haynes allowed an unearned run in the seventh on the only Viqueen error in the game but was able to shut the visitors down the rest of the way to earn the win.

"This team is starting to peak at a real good time," Frost said. "We are playing much better as a team and we are seeing some positive results because of it. Now we just need to sustain and build on what we have learned the last seven or eight games."

Shirley Robles matched her counterpart's strikeout total with 10, allowing just three walks to pick up the hard luck loss for the Lady Hornets.