End of the ‘Dark Ages’:Softball holds first night game
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The contest was the first time Warren County played under lights on their new field, and while the results may have not gone Warren County’s way, with the Lady Pioneers falling 5-2, all in all the night was a great success.
“This was a big game for us tonight,” said head coach David Upton. “Getting to play under the lights and having this game broadcast on the radio was something special for all of us. The best part of the night was playing the way we did against a team like Coffee County.
“Coffee County is one of the top programs in the state and our girls did a great job. Ashlee Sadler is a very good pitcher and she brought her ‘A’ game tonight. We did a good job of adjusting at the plate. We had just three hits, but the girls put the ball in play and made Coffee County’s defense make the plays.”
Erica Warren started the Lady Pioneers with a strikeout of Lady Raider Emily Shelton and the next two batters grounded out to the Lady Pioneers defense. Warren County went down in order in the bottom of the inning with three ground balls.
Coffee County’s lead-off hitter in the top of the second doubled to right-center, but the Lady Pioneer defense kept the runner stranded. Warren County went down on three ground balls in the bottom of the inning.
The game stayed scoreless until the top of the fourth, when a leadoff single, a hit, an error and steal at home gave the Lady Raiders a 2-0 lead. Penny Wanamaker reached with an infield hit in the bottom of the inning but was left stranded.
The Lady Raiders scored two runs in the top of the sixth after Warren hit the leadoff batter and a single and double gave Coffee County a 4-0 lead. Warren County scored two runs in the bottom of the inning when Shellie Hayes reached on an infield hit and moved to third on a wild pitch. Alex Mullican got an infield hit to score Hayes and MaCall Cooper hit into a 4-3 fielders choice to score Mullican to make it a 4-2 game.
The Lady Raiders added one more run in the seventh with a double and error to take the victory as Warren County sent three ground balls to third to end the game.
Warren County picked up three hits and committed three errors. Warren had six strikeouts on 98 pitches. Coffee County had 10 hits and two errors. Sadler had six K’s on 70 pitches.
In the junior varsity game Warren County fell 13-3, but the big news of the night was a solo home run by Cassie McGinness in the bottom of the fourth. McGinness is the first Lady Pioneer to break in the new field with a shot over the fence.
“We had several chances to score tonight, but the ball just couldn’t find its way past the infield,” Upton stated. “In the varsity game the difference was a couple of big hits by Coffee County. It could have been a 2-2 or 3-2 game but it wasn’t.
“The girls are finally starting to believe in themselves and realizing they can play or beat anybody. Cassie just nailed the ball tonight against a solid pitcher. She got the bat on the ball and drove it. That was really special.”
The Lady Pioneers are now 1-3 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Riverdale on Tuesday for a District 7-AAA matchup.