Peebles also wins sectional opener
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Two county rivals met on the softball field at Peebles High School on April 30 as the host Lady Indians welcomed in the visiting North Adams Lady Devils. The contest was a tight one from the get-go and wasn’t decided until the final pitch, a pitch that resulted in a walk-off base hit by Peebles freshman Kyndell Young that gave the home team the 6-5 victory.
The game was tied at one after three innings with the Lady Indians getting one in the bottom of the first and visiting North Adams matching that in the top of the second. In the top half of the fourth, the Lady Devils struck for two runs to grab the lead, Paige Evans and Ava Pistole crossing the plate. That North Adams lead vanished in the bottom of the fifth when the Lady Indians scored three times, getting RBI’s from Kylie Schumacher and Reese Davis to go up 4-3.
In the top of the sixth, the Lady Devils went back in front with a pair of unearned runs, but Peebles tied the game in their half with an unearned run of their own. The Lady Devils went scoreless in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for the Peebles walk-off heroics.
Schumacher led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and after a strikeout. Schumacher went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Aleah Purcell. That brought Kyndell Young to the dish and she sent the home fans home happy, stroking a base hit that brought Schumacher home with the winning run.
Both teams were in sectional tournament action on Monday, May 6 with the Lady Indians advancing to the Division III sectional finals with a 6-2 win over Albany Alexander. The Lady Devils hosted Nelsonville-York but the weather forced the game to be suspended in the top of the fourth with North Adams on top 5-0. The game was to be completed on Tuesday but the weather forecast didn’t make that look promising, though the contest was moved to the turf field at Hillsboro High School.