Lady Canes Survive First Round

A last of the season region game loss to Morgan County last Tuesday forced the Lady ‘Canes to travel to Lamar County last Thursday for a best-of-three game series in the first round of the region playoffs.

After splitting the double header with a 4-2 loss and a 10-2 win, the series advanced on to Friday when the Lady ‘Canes won in dramatic fashion by a score of 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning.

When you go to extra innings in the playoffs International Tie Breaker Rules are implemented in order to move the game along. This rule specifies that each team gets a runner on second with no outs before the first batter comes to the plate.

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Athletic Director and Head Softball Coach Chris Jenkins said, “This is the first time we have played under this rule in my five years of coaching softball.

“The purpose of it is to move the game along, especially if you have two dominating pitchers on the mound. Sharika Pennamon made an outstanding defensive play to get us out of the top of the first extra inning, while Taylor Garrett gave us a good performance on the mound.

“In the bottom of that first extra inning, we had the bases loaded with one out when Beth Hart came off the bench and stroked a game winning double.”

The team was to travel to Pike County yesterday to begin the second round of the region tournament in a three-game series with Pike County in a double-header with the third game, if necessary, to be played today.

A loss in the three-game series will send the team to a consolation three-game series to determine third or fourth place in the region.

A win will send them to the region championship series next Wednesday and Thursday, with the location to be determined.