Perfect game by Sparks, homer by Duvall lead Lady Pacers
Highlighted by a perfect game from Pacer senior pitcher Lily Sparks, the Switzerland County varsity softball team picked up three big wins in the past week.
Providence
Last Tuesday, April 19th, Switzerland County defeated Providence by a score of 7-1.
The Lady Pacers got off to a quick start, as leadoff hitter Jessie Duvall drew a walk in the first and promptly stole second. She scored moments later when Maddie Duvall singled, and after Maddie stole second, Lily Sparks plated her with a single.
Providence got its lone run in the third, but the Lady Pacers scored two more of their own in the third.
Jessie Duvall led things off and was hit by a pitch, and then stole second. Maddie Duvall then reached on an error by the Providence right fielder; and Sparks then powered them both home with a double.
A single run was plated by Switzerland County in the fifth, as Maddie Duvall reached back after being hit by a pitch and — again — Sparks drove her home with her second double of the game.
In the sixth, Haily Sainz reached for the Lady Pacers on an error by the second baseman, and she stole second before scoring when Maddie Level reached on an error by the third baseman.
Switzerland County’s final run came in the seventh, as Maddie Duvall tripled and scored on a passed ball.
New Washington
On Saturday afternoon, Lily Sparks took center stage as she hurled a perfect game against New Washington.
She struck out 18 of the 21 batters she faced in a masterful performance.
Offensively, the Lady Pacers got all the runs that they would need in the bottom of the first, as Maddie Duvall singled and three advanced to third on errors and scored when Sparks hit into a fielder’s choice but was safe at first. Sparks then scored when — after Nora Hankins drew a walk — Bri Stow slammed an RBI single.
Two more Switzerland County runs came across the plate in the fourth, when with one out Jessie Duvall connected on a home run.
Maddie Duvall followed that with a double; and Sparks brought her home with a triple.
The fifth was also a big inning, as Switzerland County scored five more runs.
Kayla Cutter smacked a double with one out, and then scored when Macy Cook followed her with a single.
With two outs Jessie Duvall had a triple that scored Cook; Maddie Duvall reached on an error by the Mustange shortstop; she scored on a single by Sparks; and Sparks scored when Hankins reached on an error by the shortstop.
Southwestern
On Monday night the Lady Pacers earned their third win of the week with a 5-0 win over Southwestern.
Again the damage was done at the top of the order, as Jessie Duvall led off the first with a walk, and advanced to third on a single by Maddie Duvall. Lily Sparks then drove home Jessie with a groundout to the second baseman; and Bri Stow then reached base on a walk. Nora Hankins then hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Maddie to score.
Switzerland County then scored a single run in the fourth, when Stow singled to lead off the inning and Hankins followed that with a single. Stow then scored on a passed ball; and Kayla Cutter reached base on a fielder’s choice.
The Lady Pacers final two runs came in the fifth, as Maddie Duvall led off with a single and stole a base; and Sparks then singled and went all the way to third on a pair of errors by the Southwestern rightfielder, with Maddie scoring.
Hankins then picked up her second sacrifice fly of the game, scoring Sparks.