Lackey’s one run good enough to defeat Hornets

Chargers score the lone run of softball game in third inning

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 only allowed 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.

‘‘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.”