LANGLEY – Two of the region’s most dominant high school pitchers squared off in the opening round of the 15th Region tournament Memorial Day at Floyd Central High School.
When the dust had settled, Pikeville and ace hurler Emily Ford out-dueled Belfry senior standout Kailee Rash, 4-3, to advance to tonight’s semifinals.
Lindsey Lockhart delivered a two-out, second inning single to score Randi Delong with the game’s first run. Delong had reached on a base hit. Lockhart also doubled.
The Lady Panthers extended the lead to 2-0 in the home fourth when Olivia Whitfield reached on a single and later scored on a wild pitch.
Ginna Jones lined a two-run single in the home fifth inning to extend the lead to 4-0, following a two-out error, scoring Kendal Hall who reached on a fielder’s choice and Delong who reached on a line-drive that was dropped in right field.
Belfry battled its way back into the game by scoring three times in the top of the sixth inning. Emily Deaton opened the frame with a base hit, moved up to second on a stolen base, and following Linzee Phillips’ sacrifice bunt, scored on Paula Dotson’s RBI single to make it 4-1. It was Dotson’s second single on the day.
Ariel Mounts followed with a deep triple to score Dotson and then Kylea Stanley drove Mounts home with the fourth hit of the inning off Ford.
Belfry, which saw its season end at 23-8, had one last chance with Deaton singled with two outs in the seven, moved up to second on a stolen base, but was left stranded when Ford recorded her third strikeout of the inning.
Pikeville, now 26-11, will face Johnson Central at 8 p.m. tonight in the second semifinal matchup.
At Langley
(15Th Region Tournament)
SCORE BY INNINGS: R-H-E
BF (23-8)…..000 003 0 – 3-7-1
PK (26-11)…010 120 x – 4-7-0
Pitching:
WP – Emily Ford
LP – Kailee Rash
Hitting: Emily Deaton 2-1b, 1r; Paula Dotson 2-1b, 1r, 1 RBI; Ariel Mounts 3b, 1r 1 RBI; Kylea Stanley 1b, 1 RBI, Belfry. Lindsey Lockhart 2b, 1b, 1 RBI; Randi Delong 1b, 2r; Olivia Whitfield 1b, bb, 1r; Ginna Jones 1b, 2 RBI, Pikeville.
(Photo courtesy of Ray Justice Photography)