On the left, Peebles pitcher Kaelyn Musser delivers a pitch to the plate in the district semifinal win over Lynchburg and on the right, she is congratulated at home plate by her teammates after her first inning two-run home run. (Photo by Stephen Forsha, Highland County Press)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
A magical postseason run for the Peebles Lady Indians softball squad came to a disappointing end on Friday, May 23, but not before the Peebles girls had reached the Division VI district championship game. After knocking off Eastern Meigs in the district quarterfinals and then upsetting Lynchburg in the semifinals, the Lady Indians saw their season close with a 2-0 loss to Coal Grove in the title game.
To get to that title game. the Lady Indians had to pull off an upset and defeat the Lynchburg Lady Mustangs, a team they had lost twice to in the regular season and this time Peebles turned the tables with an impressive 7-2 win on May 21 st Unioto High School.
Against the Lady Mustangs, the Peebles bats wasted no time, scoring two times in the top of the first off of Lynchburg starter Noel Barnhill and those two came in a big way. A Kendall Myers double was followed by a two-out two-run homer to centerfield by pitcher Kaelyn Musser to give her team an early advantage.
That advantage evaporated quickly as the Lady Mustangs scored twice in their half of the first to tie the game and that is how it stayed through the next four innings as the two pitchers allowed nothing to change the scoreboard.
In the top of the sixth, the Peebles bats once again came to life. Amryn Carroll reached on an error, followed by a Myers single and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Musser then reached on another Lynchburg error that allowed Carroll to score and give the Lady Indians the lead. Kendall Young followed with a double that plated Myers and Musser for a 5-2 Peebles lead. Reese Davis kept he inning going with a base hit and the scoring was capped off by an Aleah Purcell double to center that scored Young and Davis to give the visitors a five-run lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Mustangs got a two-base hit from Reese Ruble but she was left stranded and in the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Indians turned a double play that helped them finish off the game and capture a berth in the district championship.
At the plate for Peebles, Kendall Myers finished 2 for 4 and scored twice while Musser added the big first inning homer and also went all seven innings in the center circle, scattering nine hits, striking out four and not issuing a single walk.
Two days later, the Lady Indians were back on the field at Unioto, this time seeking a district championship, but the Coal Grove Lady Hornets were set to deny that.
Behind a two-hit, 11 strikeout performance from pitcher Abbie Deeds, the Lady Hornets were able to scrape out a pair of unearned runs and escape with a 2-0 win for their second consecutive district title and the second in school history.
With Musser again in the circle for the Lady Indians, Coal Grove scored in the bottom of the second on a catcher’s interference call and a two-base hit from Brianna Malone. In the bottom of the third, the Lady Hornets had runners at second and third with two out but Musser recorded a strikeout to end the threat. The second Coal Grove run came in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Malone and that was all Deeds needed.
In the season-ending loss, Peebles managed just two hits, singles by Kiera Scott and Kendall Myers and Musser was again a dominant pitcher, striking out 11 and walking none, giving her a total of 32 strikeouts in three postseason games.
The Lady Indians finished the season at 6-15 and will bid farewell to seniors Abigail Smalley and Ashlyn Abbott, but returning a majority of the roster that should use this postseason momentum to build on for the 2026 season.
