Hornets fall by one

Only run of softball game comes in 3rd

Friday, May 9, 2008

An RBI single from Lackey’s Amber LaBille in the third scored the first and only run of the game to give Lackey a 1-0 victory. With the bases loaded, LaBille sent a single into center field to score Jordyn Commo from third base, which turned out to be the hit that brought in the game-winning RBI only in the third inning.

‘‘We definitely need to work on hitting,” said LaBille, despite the fact that she hit in the deciding run. ‘‘...Hitting will definitely kill us. We really need to get the bats going.”

Lackey (6-10 overall) only produced four hits in the game, three of which came in the third inning and the fourth coming in the fifth inning off the bat of Kim Leatherman. Despite the fact that the Chargers took the win, hitting is the focal point as they head into the 3A South playoffs as a No. 9 seed, taking on eighth-seeded Westlake in a first round game scheduled for Friday.

‘‘We can’t hit, we just can’t,” Lackey head coach Dawn Cowger said. ‘‘We try everything we can, but they just can’t get around on the ball. If we could just get the bats to follow along [with the fielding], we would be a team to be reckoned with.”

As Lackey could not hit, pitcher Shelby Windsor kept the Hornets from scoring. Windsor allowed only four hits and struck out nine batters in her complete-game shutout victory, keeping her team’s lone run safe.

‘‘I was very nervous [pitching with a one-run lead],” Windsor said. ‘‘I hate those situations. It gives me a little bit of confidence going into the playoffs, but I would be more confident if we could get more runs in.”

Great Mills (7-12, 5-11 SMAC) goes into the playoffs as a No. 7 seed and will host 10th-seeded Friendly from Prince George’s County. Despite dropping its game against Lackey on senior day, the Hornets are prepared for the playoffs.

‘‘We have had a good season this year,” Great Mills senior Brihanna Stewart said. ‘‘We might be [7-12], but we are going to win [in] the playoffs. These past three years has been really, really nice and I am going to miss softball. Hopefully I can play in college.”

Despite not scoring any runs and only managing four hits, senior Tiffany Kurtz managed to provide one last exciting play in her last regular season home game. In the top of the seventh, Kurtz fielded a ground ball from her second-base position by diving to her right to secure the ball. Kurtz then rolled onto second base securing the out, and prompting cheers from the crowd.

‘‘The season was great and a lot of fun,” said Kurtz in her fourth year of softball. ‘‘Going into the playoffs we are ready, we are going to bring it. We are ready to go practice and work as hard as we can. We really want to go as far as we can this year.”

Courtney Stewart pitched a complete game in the loss.

As far as what her four years of softball has meant to her, Kurtz added: ‘‘They have meant so much to me. I have made friendships that I hope last a long time.”

Kurtz and Stewart each had one hit in the game. Joselynn Stewart and Lindsay Lague provided the final two hits for the Hornets.

‘‘We have to hit better than that [going into the playoffs],” Great Mills head coach O’Jay Lewis said. ‘‘We just have to step up and hit a little more. That is going to be the key. Friday’s game is going to exciting for us, because my [junior varsity] pitcher [Amanda Jackson] is going to have to pitch.”

‘‘The team is pumped and ready for it,” said Cowger of Lackey’s readiness going into the playoffs as Lackey is set to travel to Westlake for the first round today. ‘‘They need to just settle down and start hitting.”