A two-out, bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday at Ohio County pushed across the only run of the game as the Eagles softball team defeated Grayson County 1-0.
Losing pitcher Embry Thorpe pitched well enough to win the game, but her opponent in the circle for the Eagles was, perhaps, just a touch better.
Thorpe allowed just four hits on the day and struck out six Eagle batters. Her control was not the best, though and it proved to be her downfall. Thorpe went to three-ball counts on 10 Eagles batters in the game, and wound up walking three of them, the last one hurting the most.
On the other side of the ledger, senior right-hander Erica Lambert was untouchable, at least over the first three innings when she struck out the first nine batters she faced. She finished her day allowing just three hits while striking out 11 Cougars.
Kenzie Renfrow broke the string of strikeouts in the fourth inning, when she led off with a looping single to left. Thorpe sacrificed her to second before Renfrow stole third base. When Mikayla Clark was thrown out on a slow roller to short, Renfrow tried to come home, but was thrown out by first baseman Laiklynn Jackson to end the inning.
The Cougars threatened again in the fifth inning when they put runners at second and third with two outs, but Lambert struck out Gracie Franklin to quell the uprising.
Clark led off the top of the seventh with a double to right-center. Maddie Duvall, trying to sacrifice Clark to third, was out when Eagle catcher Paige Smith snared her foul pop with a diving effort. Rachel Snyder followed by grounding out to short.
Clark tried advancing to third on the throw, and had actually beaten the return throw by Jackson at first, but the infield umpire called her out, saying she came off the bag on her pop-up slide, a call which Cougar coach Eddie Anderson vehemently disputed, to no avail.
Finally, in the bottom of the seventh, Thorpe ran into a situation she could not wiggle out of. Third baseman Elli Grave singled to right leading off the inning, a ball that was just beyond the reach of a diving Annie Kiper at second.
Left-fielder Nealey Batts laid down a sacrifice bunt which was fielded by Franklin at first, but her throw to Kiper covering at first was high, allowing Batts to be safe and Grave to advance to third. One out later, DP Sidney Hudnall hit a slow roller to Lindsay O’Neal at third. O’Neal wisely did not make an attempt at first, knowing the only runner that counted was the one at third, and the bases were loaded.
Thorpe then struck out shortstop Haylee Jones on a 3-2 pitch for the second out, bringing up Lambert, who was the leadoff batter. Thorpe went to 3-1 on Lambert, and when her next pitch was high, the winning run crossed the plate.
Ohio County improved to 17-3 with the win, the best record in the 3rd Region. The Cougars fell to 10-8 with the loss.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
Embry Thorpe delivered to the plate against Ohio
County. Thorpe allowed just four hits, but her seventh-inning,
bases loaded walk brought in the winning run.
