Game #1
Switzerland County 7, South Ripley 3
Switzerland County High School is hosting the Class 2A Sectional #44 tournament this week at Lady Pacer field, and Coach Steven Konkle’s Lady Pacers got the tourney off to a good start on Monday night with a 7-3 victory over South Ripley.
Leadoff hitter Tanya Sefton opened the bottom of the first inning with a walk, and then stole second base. Natalie Daugherty hit a sacrifice grounder that moved the runner to third; and Tanya Sefton was then able to score to give the Lady Pacers the early lead, 1-0.
The Lady Pacers were able to score again in the third inning when Rachel Rodgers was hit by a pitch. Tanya Sefton then connected on a sacrifice bunt to move Rachel Rodgers to second, but the ball was overthrown at first, putting runners on the corners. Tanya Sefton then stole second, and Rachel Rodgers was able to score in a confusion of errors by the Lady Raiders. Tanya Sefton then scored on an error when Ashley Chase hit a grounder. Ashley Chase then moved to second base, as the errors continued for the South Ripley defense. Natalie Daugherty singled and Natalie Graham got a hit to get two more runs in.
South Ripley was able to score one run in the fifth inning, but still trailed 6-1.
The Lady Pacers were able to score one last time in the fifth inning when Natalie Graham hit a single and Melissa Raisor was put in as a courtesy runner. She later scored on a grounder hit by Courtney Cole. The Lady Rebels scored two in the sixth inning when the Lady Pacers made an error; but Switzerland County ended any possible threat with a nice double play.
The Lady Pacers had five hits and the Lady Raiders finished with three. The Lady Pacers also had three stolen bases — two by Tanya Sefton and one by Natalie Daugherty. The Lady Raiders were not able to steal a base during the game. Natalie Graham and Courtney Cole each had two RBI; and Natalie Daugherty had one RBI.
Kodi Driver was the pitcher for the game, and was nominated as player of the game by Coach Steven Konkle. She had a three hitter; picking up six strikeouts and allowing only one earned run.
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Game #2
Southwestern 6, Milan 1
The second game of Sectional #44 had the Southwestern Lady Rebels and the Milan Lady Indians playing against each other; and the Lady Rebels won the game by a score of 6-1.
There was no score for either team for the first three innings, then Southwestern’s Judy Ellis walked and Kendell Withered flew to right and the ball was misplayed. Another error in the inning scored two runs. Southwestern had a big fifth inning to put the game away 6-1. Milan scored only one run in the fifth inning on a walk, stolen base and then an RBI single by Kristy Teer.
Courtney Crabtree pitched all seven innings for the Lady Indians, and she had five strikeouts.
Devin Brierly pitched five innings and had four strikeouts for Southwestern. Judy Ellis pitched two innings and had four strikeouts.
Devin Brierly had a home run and had two RBI; Jesse Oliver was 3-for-4 at the plate and had two doubles.