Lanie Johnston was the winning pitcher in the Peebles Lady Indians’ 3-1 win over Portsmouth Clay on May 18 in the Division IV district semi-finals. (Photo by Jaocb Smith/Portsmouth Daily Times)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It’s back to familiar territory for Coach Doug McFarland and his Peebles Lady Indians softball squad. By virtue of a 3-1 win at Portsmouth Clay on Tuesday, May 18, the Lady Indians will be back in the Division IV district champion, still looking for a repeat of their 2019 trip to the state Final Four. If you believe the sectional tournament seeding, the Lady Indians. who were a #7 seed, were underdogs to the #2 seeded Lady Panthers, but perhaps those who set up the brackets underestimated the Peebles team. After slumping and losing their final seven regular season games, the Lady Indians have come back to life at a good time, getting two tourney wins and improving their overall mark to a deceiving 11-12.
In Tuesday’s win, the Lady Indians got all of their runs in their first two at-bats and then rode the right arm of pitcher Lanie Johnston to the “W”. Johnston allowed just four hits in a seven-inning complete game, at one point retiring 14 consecutive Clay hitters.
“Lanie did an excellent job on the mound,” said Coach McFarland. “She admittedly did not have her best stuff but she hit spots and worked counts to her favor, enabling her defense to make plays behind her. Our defense was lights out , a total team defensive effort. When you go out an play errorless ball, you give yourself a really good chance to win.”
“I’m very happy for my girls. After the win over Southern, we started working on a game plan Friday and Saturday. Basically, we attack pitches early and field the ball for Lanie. We were able to do both effectively tonight. We’d have liked to have put more runs up on the board bit were unable to capitalize when those opportunities arose.”
The Lady Indians got all the runs they eventually needed in their very first at-bat. Spark plug Marisa Moore led off the game with a double, Baylie Johnston reached safely, and then both runners came home on another two-base hit, this one off the bat of second baseman Emmi Nichols. The third Peebles run of the contest came in the top of the second after two were out. Lily McFarland drew a walk, went to second on a passed ball, and came home when Moore blasted her second two-bagger in as many innings, giving her team the 3-0 advantage.
The only score for Clay came in the bottom of the second on an RBI base hit by Kailey Ware, but that was it for the home team. Johnston retired the final batter of the second and then got 1-2-3 frames in the next four Clay at-bats, getting some defensive help such as a nice running catch in by center fielder Avery Storer. The Lady Panthers got a one-out triple from Katie Fite in the bottom of the seventh, but Johnston sat down the next two hitters and the Lady Indians had punched their ticket to the district title game.
“”I think the play of the day was Avery’s running catch, it really deflated the Clay team,” said Coach McFarland. “Offensively, Emmi (Nichols) stepped up big for us with her two-run double that proved to be the game-winner. I’m very proud of how our girls played, we beat a really good team, and I think our girls now realize that they can play with anyone.”
The Lady Indians will be playing for a second consecutive district championship on Saturday, May 22, back on the field at Rio Grande University. A 2 p.m. first pitch will kick off a title game with #3 seeded Symmes Valley, with a trip to the Division IV regional tournament at stake.
“Getting back to the district finals is really special.” said Coach McFarland. “The way we ended the season,, I wasn’t sure we could get back, but our girls have really stepped it up with two errorless games and solid pitching and hitting. That is a good way to enter a district final. We have a good chance as long as the girls stay focused on our game plan and enjoy the opportunity in front of them.”
BOX SCORE
Peebles
210 000 0— 3
Portsmouth Clay
010 000 0— 1
