Lady Canes Win One, Lose Two
The third time is the charm.
The final score of Thursday’s game played in Forsyth found the Lady Hurricanes on top with a 5-4 win over Mary Persons.
The Lady Canes reached base first with a single by second baseman Allie Jones in the top of the second. Pitcher Bailey Jenkins was hit by a pitch to advance Jones but an infield fly and a strike out ended the inning.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third. Mary Persons had two singles, a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice to score the first run and added one more run in the bottom of the fourth.
The fifth inning belonged to the Lady Canes. Right fielder Jenna Parrish made it to first after being hit by a pitch. Catcher Jasmine Stone walked and shortstop Avery Barton scored them both with a line drive homer to center field. Scoring three runs, they kept Mary Persons scoreless in the bottom of the fifth.
Two strike outs, a walk and a fielder’s choice left the Lady Canes with no runs in the sixth. Mary Persons retaliated with a walk, a fielder’s choice, a double and a single to score two more runs in the sixth, giving them a 4-3 lead going into the seventh.
Leading off in the seventh, Barton lined out to right field. First baseman Kate Robinson followed with a ground ball single. A wild pitch gave Robinson a steal to second and Jones walked. Robinson and Jones both advanced after an error on a ground ball hit by Jenkins. Guli scored Jones with a fly ball single to center, giving the Lady Canes the lead 5-4. The Lady Canes kept Mary Persons from scoring again, giving them their first victory of the season.
Jenkins took the win for the Lady Canes, going seven innings with one strike-out, two walks, and allowing nine hits and four runs. Robinson, Sands, Jones, Jenkins, Guli and Barton all had hits with Jenkins having two and Barton homering. Runs batted in (RBI) included Barton with the game high of three and Guli with two.
“Much better defensive game Thursday against Mary Persons,” Head Coach Chris Jenkins shared. “We were able to correct some of the mistakes that cost us in Tuesday’s game. With it being so early in the season, we expect there to be a learning curve, but the main thing is making sure we don’t make the same mistakes twice. Bailey did a good job of throwing strikes and pitching to contact, which keeps the defense on their toes and mentally in the game. It wasn’t our best offensive game, but anytime you’re down to your last out and can string together several good at-bats like we did, it shows the team has some fight in them. That can offset some of the growing pains as the season rolls on.”
The Lady Canes did not fare as well in the previous two games. On Monday, they fell victim to Georgia Military College in Milledgeville 8-0 and on Tuesday, playing on the road in Oconee, they fell 14-8.
They struggled early against G.M.C., allowing two runs each in the first and second innings, including a homer in the bottom of the second by Lady Bulldog M. Talcott
Stone singled to start the first inning against G.M.C. She was caught stealing second on the next play. Barton singled to left field but the end of the inning found her left on first base.
The top of the third saw a single by Parrish followed by a steal to second. Reaching on an error on a ground ball, Stone made it to first. Both were left standing after Sands‘ hard hit line drive to center field was caught for out three.
G.M.C. scored five runs in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs each in the first and second inning.
A two out single in the top of the fourth, this time by third baseman Hailey Tripp, gave hope to the Lady Canes. A fly ball out by Hailey Hooberry ended that hope for out three.
Quick reflexes by pitcher Jenkins of the Lady Canes resulted in a line drive out for G.M.C.in the bottom of the fourth. A single, a walk and a double gave G.M.C. two more runs. The Lady Canes were unable to get on the scoreboard.
The loss went to Jenkins, going five innings and allowing eight hits on eight runs. The Lady Canes had five errors. Stone, Barton, Jenkins, Tripp and Parrish each contributed one hit.
Against Oconee, the Lady Canes were ahead 8-5 in the third, tied 8-8 in the fifth, and saw their lead slip away in the high hitting game with eight hits for the Lady Canes and 13 hits for Oconee.
The top of the second inning found Monticello on the board first.
Robinson and Tripp made it on base after two errors by Oconee followed by Jones getting to first after being hit by a pitch. Jenkins followed with a double to center field, giving the Lady Canes two runs in the top of the second inning. Oconee followed with three runs in the bottom of the second with two singles, two walks, and an error.
The third inning was all Lady Canes. A single and a double by Stone, a single for Jenkins, two errors by Oconee, a fielder’s choice for Barton, a sacrifice fly by Robinson, Jones hit by a pitch, a fielder’s choice by Sands, and a walk by Guli, all contributed to six runs in the inning for the Lady Canes.
Oconee held the Lady Canes to eight runs and came back with three runs each of their own in the next three innings, winning the game 14-8.
Barton started the game pitching for Monticello giving up eight runs on seven hits over three and two-third innings, striking out one. Jenkins took the loss, allowing six hits and six runs over two and and a third innings, with one walk and one strike out.
Jones, Sands and Guli contributed one hit each while Stone had two hits and Jenkins had the game high in hits with three. Jenkins racked up three RBI, Stone had two and Robinson, Jones and Guli each had one RBI.
The Lady Canes are to travel to Howard High School today, August 15 for 5:30 p.m. match up in Macon. The next two games will be home contests to be played at their old softball field just below Jasper County Middle School as the new softball field is still under construction. The varsity squad will host Jackson Monday, August 19 and Mary Persons Tuesday, August 20 with both games beginning at 5:30 p.m.