By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
On thing you can always say about Coach Doug McFarland and his Peebles Lady Indians softball program- they will play anyone at any time. Putting together a challenging schedule has always been a mantra of the Lady Indians ad this spring is no different. That tough slate has always benefited the Lady Indians as they have shown in their postseason success in the past few seasons.
The Lady Indians have had a rough beginning to their 2023 campaign, winning just one of their first five contests (at press time), with three of those losses coming to tough non-conference opponents. In Southern Hills Athletic Conference action, Peebles stands at 1-1 with a win over Ripley and a loss to Eastern Brown.
On Tuesday, April 4 the Lady Indians faced one of those solid non-conference foes, traveling to Adena to face the Lady Warriors. The 2023 Lady Indians are in somewhat of a rebuilding mode, with a number of new girls in new positions, and they fell behind early at Adena, as the home team scored seven runs in their first two at-bats against Peebles starter freshman Kaelyn Musser.
What turned out to be the only run the Peebles squad could muster came in the top half of the third when Baylie Johnston singled with two outs, moved up on a base hit by Caydence Carroll, and scored on an RBI single by Lily McFarland. Musser blanked the Lady Warriors int he bottom of the third but the Adena offense got rolling again, scoring one time in the fourth and then adding four more in the bottom of the fifth, getting a walk0off two-bagger that drove home the runs that enforced the OHSAA run rule and give the home side a 12-1 victory.
Weather permitting, the Lady Indians were slated to be back in conference action on Thursday, April 6, traveling to Whiteoak to face the Lady Wildcats. The challenges continue over Easter weekend as Coach McFarland and his squad will play four games in two days in the Valley of Thunder Showcase at Symmes Valley. On Friday, Peebles will battle Miami Trace and Heath, then face Pickerington North and Centerburg on Saturday.