Liberty County split its games on the softball diamond last week.
Liberty County dropped a 13-0 decision to South Effingham on Tuesday in a non-region softball game at home. However, the Lady Panthers bounced back with a 7-0 win Thursday at Portal.
The results put the Lady Panthers’ overall record at 6-7 going into this week’s action.
Lady Panther coach Jerome Standard said his players committed too many infield and communication errors against the Mustangs.
“At practice, we look like a well-oiled machine,” he said about their overall year-to-date performances. “We’ve had some blunders … we haven’t played to our potential … we need to bring our practice to play.
The Lady Mustangs notched three runs in the first and second inning, added five in the third and two in the fourth.
Lady Panther Kaleigh Fisher pitched three innings, giving up nine runs. Kathryn Carter pitched two innings and gave up four runs. Uncharacteristically for both pitchers, neither tossed any strikeouts.
Carter had the Lady Panthers’ one hit.
Standard said the Lady Mustangs did well against his normally solid pitchers. He said the problem is the lack of hitting.
“That has been our nemesis … it was last year and it continues to be the same,” he said. “I have three kids that will constantly put the ball in play well. The rest are question marks. But again, they are not a question mark in practice. It is not whether they can do it or not because they’ve shown they are quite capable, but we just have to do it in the game.”
Liberty got off to a good start against Portal with two runs in the first inning. The Lady Panthers added another run in the fourth and four in the sixth.
According to stats on MaxPreps.com, Fisher was 4 for 4 at the plate with two runs. Cassidy Collum was 3 for 4 with four RBIs. Carter was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, while Rachael Smith was 2 for 4 with two runs. Diamond Richardson had two RBIs, and Kiara Edwards had two stolen bases.
On the mound, Carter got the win by allowing one hit over five innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. Fisher got the save, pitching two innings with one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.
On Sept. 12, Liberty was supposed to host Thomson for a region doubleheader, but it was rained out. Standard said the weather has really hampered the team this season.
“It has affected our practice time as well as our playing time,” he said.
The Thomson doubleheader has been rescheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2. But before that, the Lady Panthers have games against Windsor Forest, Bradwell, which was rescheduled because of weather, and Richmond Hill and then back-to-back region games.
“We have four in one week, and that will pretty much dictate what we will be going on,” Standard said. “I am happy that we have Windsor (first),” he added about their Tuesday home game against the Lady Knights. “They are not the strongest in our region and it will give us more time on the field. We have been lacking game time and it definitely showed up against South Effingham.”
Upcoming Lady Panther games include Monday’s non-conference home game at 6 p.m. against Richmond Hill and a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Windsor Forest. The Lady Panthers play at Bradwell at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28.
BRADWELL INSTITUTE
It was a rough week for Bradwell on the softball diamond last week.
The Lady Tigers fell 11-0 Tuesday to Richmond Hill at home and lost 13-1 at South Effingham on Thursday.
Richmond Hill held Bradwell to two hits, one each from Madison Winn and Shania Eldridge.
Mackenzie Stewart pitched the loss, netting five strikeouts and walking five.
Against South Effingham, the Lady Tigers got one hit each from Sara Hause, Tamia Johnson, Winn and Mackenzie Stewart.
Stewart took the loss, striking two and walking four.
Bradwell will host St. Vincent’s Monday for a varsity doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m.