NORBORNE – Late in the afternoon of Oct. 3 on the Norborne campus, Aireanna Hoeppner found herself in a difficult place, mentally and emotionally. Hoeppner was trying to close out Richmond’s title game with the Tina-Avalon/Norborne/Southwest of Livingston co-op at the Norborne Invitational Softball Tournament. She and her fellow Spartans led 10-7 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. But the Dragons had tagged her for two runs and four hits that inning – and had runners on first and second when Gracie McKinney came to bat, representing the tying run. McKinney had already collected three singles off Hoeppner and fellow Richmond hurler Jaedyn Lopez. “I was really tight at that part,” Hoeppner said. Hoeppner responded by serving up a game-ending, tournament title-clinching fly out to right field. “I was just, like, ‘Just throw it, calm down, chill,’ ” she said. The out capped Hoeppner’s second pitching appearance that game. She pitched the first inning, allowing four hits…