By Mark Carpenter
After losing their first three outings of 2021, Coach Doug McFarland and his Peebles Lady Indians softball squad seemed to have righted the ship, as they have now posted three victories in succession to reach the .500 mark. The latest win came on Wednesday, April 7 as the Lady Indians traveled to Manchester Lady Hounds in a much-anticipated Southern Hills Athletic Conference match up. In what could be considered a mild upset, the Peebles girls used a four-run sixth inning to take a lead, then held on for an important 8-6 victory.
Everything about the match up was fairly even, with both teams getting seven hits on the day, but the Lady Indians took advantage of opportunities and came up with crucial defensive plays when they needed to in handing the Lady Hounds their first conference loss of the season.
“For a young team, this was a big, big win for us,” said Coach McFarland. “Everything worked well for us today and after Ripley last night we knew we were going to see a little quicker pitching today and we’d probably struggle the first time through the lineup but the kids put the ball in play and made some things happen, forced them to make plays also.”
“I’m not going to lie, I expect Manchester to have a great shot to get out of districts and maybe even farther. They have a great team and we were fortunate enough today to get a ‘W’ against them. I’m proud of the job Lanie (Johnston) did on the mound and we made the plays behind her. I’m proud of them all.”
Tuesday’s contest matched the starting pitching duo of Lanie Johnston for Peebles and Brooke Kennedy for the host Lady Hounds and while Kennedy was perfect through the first two innings, her offense drew first blood in the bottom of the second. Yasmin Lucas led off the frame with a base hit, moved up on another base hit, this one by Kameyl Carter, and came around to score on a single by Gabby Brown.
The Lady Hounds nursed that slim one-run advantage until the top of the fourth when Peebles sent 10 batters to the plate and struck for four runs to take the lead. After a sharp line drive to center off the bat of Marisa Moore was hauled in, Lanie Johnston singled, followed by a walk to catcher Kyndell Lloyd. both of whom were replaced by courtesy runners Rylee Barr and Kennedy Dick.
A base hit by Avery Storer filled the bases and the tying run came across on a single by Emmi Nichols. First baseman Lily McFarland then laced a double to left center that scored two runs and gave Peebles the lead. McFarland then came in on a Darby Mills single that gave the visitors a 4-1 advantage.
That lead vanished when the Lady Hounds came to bat in the bottom of the fifth and put up a five-spot to go back in front on the scoreboard. Brown led off the inning, reaching on an error, followed by a walk to Abby Young. A single by Maggie Roberts loaded the bases and a two-bagger by shortstop Hannah Hobbs brought home Brown and Young to make it 4-3. Kennedy followed with a base hit that chased Roberts home and tied the game and after Emilee Applegate was retired on a ground ball to first, a base hit by Jenna Campbell drove home Kennedy and gave the home team a 6-4 lead.
That lead didn’t even make it through the next half inning as the Lady Indians came to bat in the top of the sixth and flipped the scoreboard again. With one out.Mills drew a walk, followed by a base hit off the bat of Caydence Carroll and a hit by Baylie Johnston that again filled the bases. A base hit by Marisa Moore drove home Mills and Carroll to tie the game and Johnston came home on a throwing error by Kennedy to give Peebles the lead. Lloyd was intentionally walked and the Lady Indians made that strategy backfire when a base hit by Storer drove home Moore to make it 8-6 Peebles.
The last chance for the Lady Hounds came in the bottom of the seventh and it was the Peebles defense that took care of business. Hobbs walked and Kennedy singled to put the first two runners on base, but Applegate swung at the first pitch and popped out to short for the first out. Campbell then laced a hard ground ball to second baseman Nichols who made the perfect flip to Moore at second, who then gunned the throw to first for a perfectly executed 4-6-3 double play that ended the game.
“This was a tough loss to a good team, ” said Manchester head coach John Kennedy. “Give credit to Peebles, they took full advantage of our mental mistakes and errors to score all their runs in two innings. They also made some nice defensive plays, doubling us off the bases twice with nice catches on line drives and a nice turn by Marisa (Moore) to end the game with another double play.”
“It was just one of those games of softball where it seemed like we hit it right at them and they managed to drop their hits in where we weren’t.”
The Lady Indians (3-3) were schedule to be back in SHAC action on Thursday, April 8 , hoisting Fairfield and then continue a busy week by hosting North Adams on Friday, April 9.
The Lady Hounds (4-2) were also slated for a Thursday conference game, hosting Whiteoak, then back at home the following day to host Fayetteville, before going out of conference on Saturday for a home doubleheader with Sciotoville East.
