The Long County High School varsity softball team lost the season opener this past Tuesday to Wayne County 10-2.
The winning pitcher for the Yellow Jackets was Kaitlyn Manning, while Lady Tide freshman Taylor Poole took the loss. Leading hitters for Long County were Brittany Smiley (1 for 3), Samantha Garcia (1 for 2), and Taylor Harrison. Harrison went 1 for 2 for the Lady Tide nailing a double and scoring a run.
Hannah Fennel was the leading batter for Wayne County, 3 for 3, including a double.
Though the Lady Tide fought hard and never quit, coach Brian Thomas didn’t think they performed as well as they could.
“I thought our performance was not up to par with our expectations,” the coach said. “We looked and played a bit too loose. We weren’t as sharp as they were, and when you give a good team like Wayne extra outs they will make you pay for them.”
He said the two big areas his team had to improve were base-running and infield defense. Even though the team has lots of work ahead for them this season, Thomas said he saw positives in the game.
“I was pleased with our start from Taylor Poole, she forced contact throughout the afternoon, and that’s her job. I also like the way we executed our offense. We were able to sacrifice a few runners on the bases and turn them into runs.” Thomas said.
The coach said he also was pleased with his team’s outlook. The girls were not satisfied with their performances and were eager to get back on the practice field.
“Wayne is a well-coached team that is very tough to beat, we look forward to seeing them again several more times this season,” Thomas said.
Yesterday, the Lady Tide had their first home game of the year as the Liberty County Lady Panthers came to Ludowici. A full story on that game will be in this Sunday’s Courier.