WCMS tops Coffee; now 3-0

Perfection continues for the Warren County Middle School softball team, following Tuesday night’s narrow 4-2 victory on the road at Manchester.

With the win, the Lady Pioneers’ closest contest to this point in the young season, they improved to 3-0.

Gabi Keith worked the entire five innings for WCMS, giving up five hits and striking out nine Coffee County batters.

After two scoreless frames, the Lady Pioneers got on the board in the third, an inning which began by a hard hit to left field from Monica Lane, who stole second then scored when Lauren Crothers’ grounder was overthrown at first. Crothers moved to second on the error, took third on a Lauren Wilkinson hit and scored when Morgan Frye connected up the middle. Wilkinson took third on a Taylor Grissom base knock, and scored on an RBI from Sarah Jacobs.

The Lady Raiders were able to get to Keith in the bottom of the third, with a one-out single and two-out error setting the stage for a two-run base hit. But she settled down in the fourth, recording a fly-out and back-to-back strikeouts ending any threat.

Ahead 3-2, the Lady Pioneers failed to score in the fourth, but Keith got them out of trouble again in the bottom of the inning, recording two more strikeouts after giving up a pair of one-out hits.

The top of the fifth began with a base hit to left from Frye, who scored on a throwing error on a potential fielder’s choice when Jacobs grounded to third.

Frye and Lane were 3-for-3 and 2-for-2, respectively, at the plate for WCMS, while Grissom had two hits. Crothers, Wilkinson and Jacobs had a base knock apiece.

‘ In Tuesday’s junior varsity game, the Lady Pioneers kept up their streak of lopsided wins, downing the Raiders 12-3.

Lane pitched four innings of no-hit ball, fanning five batters and walking two before giving way to Savannah Darnbush, who gave up two hits and three walks in the fifth, leading to all three of Coffee County’s runs.

WCMS posted six hits in the winning effort, with Crothers recording a pair while Lane, Chelsea Cope, Peytan Hall and Darnbush adding one each. The team scored single runs in the first and second inning before adding three in both the third and fourth and four in the top of the fifth inning.

WCMS returned to the diamond Thursday, on the road at Shelbyville. They are scheduled to be at home Monday against Franklin County South.