VANCEBURG — Senior Nights never come easy, especially when a top 50 team in the state is coming in.
But after a couple of cancellations, the Lewis County softball team was left with not much of a choice with only two home games remaining, welcoming Lawrence County on Friday in Vanceburg.
The Lady Bulldogs greeted the Lady Lions rudely, putting up six runs in the first two innings and coming away with an 8-5 victory, the first home loss of the season for the Lady Lions and just the second loss of the season to an in-state opponent.
“Originally had Rowan County scheduled. Then we were going to do Fleming County and both cancelled. Didn’t have much choice. I hate it for my girls and hate it for my seniors, they played their hearts out and I don’t feel like we played a terrible game, I felt like we played okay,” Lady Lions coach Chad Case said. “They played really good. Caught balls that you know that would normally get down, they made diving catches. They made really good plays in the field. I give them credit.”
But if last season is any indicator, losing at home down the stretch isn’t as big of a deal.
The big picture is still a return trip to Lexington for the state tournament. The opportunity for that starts on Monday in the 63rd District Tournament semifinals against Russell.
Five wins separates the Lady Lions from their ultimate goal and they know the target is on their back as the defending 63rd District and 16th Region champ. Friday served as an indicator things won’t come easy. While the Lady Lions are undefeated in region play and won’t have to face Lawrence County again, they know the battles over the next two weeks will be some of the toughest of their season.
In their three previous losses, Case pointed to the gloves not being as sharp. A positive from Friday’s loss is that they were, only one error was committed. Some positions were switched around to get their four seniors on the field, but Case knows the gloves need to be sharp despite the dominance Emily Cole owns in the circle.
“With Emily on the mound, I’ll be honest with you the way she pitches sometimes our defense doesn’t work a whole lot a lot of times. So the first couple of losses, they started putting balls in play and we started making silly mistakes. We came in and worked on it and we really got better. So I really feel good about where we’re at on defense,” Case said. “I think one error the whole game tonight. Played defense really well. I felt like we hit the ball well, so I really feel good about where we’re at right now,” Case said.
Cole was touched up for 11 hits and six earned runs on Friday, the most earned runs in a game allowed this season.
“To me Emily always pitches well, but Emily has her own perspective of how she pitches. I could tell she was a little bit frustrated. I think she was fine and just needed to know she was fine and I kept trying to encourage her and let her know that she was fine. You just got to give credit to those kids over there. I mean, they hit the ball well. We didn’t bobble and fumble it all over the place. They hit the ball,” Case said.
Case said Cole will most likely get the day off in the circle on Saturday against Pendleton County to get rest for Monday.
The lineup continues to hit, the Lady Lions collecting 10 hits, seven different Lady Lions registering a hit including the rally starter in the bottom of the sixth when the seven, eight and nine hitters reached.
It brought the top of the lineup up, Kayla Sullivan walked to load the bases, bringing up Sarah Paige Weddington in a 6-4 game with the bases loaded and no outs.
But her lineout to short that resulted in a double play summed up their night.
“Especially in that situation. A big game, Senior Night, 7-8-9 get on and you come up with the bases loaded with your number two hitter coming up. That was our inning. Some unfortunate plays,” Case said. “We just couldn’t catch a break. We hit hit the ball really well, just right at them. Their defense played great. My seniors, they had a good day. They were a little tore up going out of here, but we’re gonna bounce back. We’re fine,” Case said.
Cole followed with an RBI single to make it 6-5, but Alanna Puente’s line drive shot to center was right at Lady Bulldogs Bree Jones, adding to her stellar performance in center that included a diving catch earlier in the contest.
The threat ended, the Lady Bulldogs added two in the seventh and that was all she wrote.
Back to last season, the Lady Lions lost their final two home games of the regular season. What followed was a seven-game winning streak all the way to the state semifinals.
Maybe they’ll be just fine with another loss on Saturday if it happens.
“You know, it’s always hard to take a loss. But, you know, sometimes it does help you get ready for district tournament and these kids realize, hey, everybody’s coming to get you and you gotta be ready. You gotta give your best effort every time you go out. So we will build from it. We built from the last time we lost. We will build from this,” Case said.
Saturday’s first pitch is slated for 12 p.m.
LADY BULLDOGS 8, LADY LIONS 5
LAWRENCE COUNTY — 420-000-2 — 8-11-2
LEWIS COUNTY — 300-002-0 — 5-10-1
2B — (Lawrence) Feltner (Lewis) Sullivan 2, Egbert
3B — (Lawrence) Crum
RBI — (Lawrence) Nelson, Crum 2, Feltner, Blevins, Pierce 2 (Lewis) Cole, Case, D’Souza, Puente 2
R — (Lawrence) Jones 2, Crum 2, Triplett, Feltner, Nelson, Maynard (Lewis) Weddington, Puente, Johnson, Case, Willis
WP — Triplett. LP — Cole.
Records: Lawrence County 24-6, Lewis County 26-4