Lady Pioneers held to two hits in opener

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Nickey Poe, seen here in this file photo against Sequatchie County last week, had one of the two hits the Lady Pioneers managed against Lincoln County Monday night. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

The Lady Pioneers softball team traveled to Lincoln County Monday afternoon as the long road trip turned into a 10-0 beating for Warren County.

The first two innings Warren County played very solid as Erica Warren took the mound for the Lady Pioneers.

In the top of the third Nickey Poe led off the inning with a single up the middle. Warren followed with a single to left as the Lady Pioneers had runners on first and second with no outs. Candace Stubblefield tried to bunt the runners over but fouled to the catcher as the next two batters went down swinging. In the bottom of the inning Lincoln County produced four runs off of three hits including a homerun as the Lady Pioneers committed three errors in the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Warren County went down in order. The Lady Falcons led off with back-to- back hits in the bottom of the fourth. A walk and three errors gave Lincoln County four more runs and a 8-0 lead going into the top of the fifth.

Warren County battled at the plate in the top of the fifth but the Lady Pioneers couldn’t get a runner on base. Warren County went down in order still with only two hits in the game.

The Lady Falcons produced two more runs in the bottom of the inning off two hits, a walk and two errors as the game ended due to the 10 run rule. Warren County faced Blackman on Tuesday and will take on White County on the road on Thursday.

“I take all the blame for this one,” said coach David Upton.

“I didn’t have the girls prepared to play and all that lies on my shoulders. We came into this game too tight. The girls never gave up, they kept fighting and you could see the determination in their eyes. They were trying so hard for a win that they just didn’t play relaxed. We have two more games this week and I have to make sure this team is loose and ready to play.”