This swing by Manchester’s Jaylise Applegate resulted in a base hit and a third inning RBI as the Lady Hounds downed Peebles 14-5 on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The beat goes on for Coach Matthias Applegate and his Manchester Lady Greyhounds. With wins earlier this week over Peebles (14-5) in conference play and Robertson County (17-0) in non-conference play, the Lady Hounds hold a sparkling 15-1 record and by virtue of the win at Peebles, have clinched no worse than a tie for the small school title of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
The Lady Hounds have one of the most potent lineups 1 through 9 in southern Ohio and that ability was on display as they traveled to Peebles to face the Lady Indians, who were on a three-game winning streak of their own. The Manchester bats produced 10 runs in their first three at-bats and that was enough to easily stand up for an eventual 14-5 triumph.
Staring right off in the top of the first off of Peebles freshman starter Kaelyn Musser, the Lady Hounds got a run-scoring double off the base of the center field fence from Emilee Applegate and later in the frame, a long two-bagger off the big bat of Kameyl Carter made it 2-0.
The visitors added two more to their lead in the top half of the second, a Jenna Campbell ground out getting a run home and the second scoring on a Peebles error. The Lady Indians broke through in their half of the second when shortstop Lily McFarland raced home on a passed ball to make it 4-1.
The Manchester offense put the game firmly in their control when they came to the plate in the top half of the third. Carter led off the inning by reaching on an error and one out later moved up a base on a single to left by Harley Rideout. Chloe Freeman walked to load the bases. A base hit by Abby Neria scored Carter and a single to right by Jaylise Applegate drove Rideout across. Campbell walked to force home Freeman to make it 7-1.
Rylie Young drew a bases loaded walk to bring home courtesy runner Ashleigh Dunn, then a fielder’s choice ground out off the bat of Emilee Applegate scored Jaylise Applegate. Campbell came home on a Musser wild pitch, giving the Lady Hounds a commanding 10-1 advantage.
The score remained there until the home team came to bat in the bottom of the fifth and pushed three runs across., with the aid of the Manchester defense. A base hit by Payton Davis was sandwiched by a trio of Lady Hounds’ errors and the inning closed with the Manchester lead sliced to 10-4. The Lady Indians added one more in the bottom of the sixth when a Caydence Carroll single scored Lydia Maddox, but any thoughts of a bug Peebles comeback were dashed when the Lady Hounds hit in the top of the seventh.
Campbell and Young led off with back-to-back singles and an error on an Emilee Applegate grounder allowed Campbell to score. Carter was hit by a pitch and a base hit by Maggie Roberts drove home two more, Young and Applegate. Later, Carter raced across the plate on a wild pitch to give the Lady Hounds a 14-5 lead, the score that remained as the Lady Indians went scoreless in their half of the seventh.
The win improved the Lady Hounds to 10-0 in the SHAC, meaning they will finish no worse that tied for the small school title and one more conference win wraps that title up.
With the loss, Peeebles dropped to 5-12 on the spring.
