The Patrick County Lady Cougars fell to Appomattox, 7-1, in the regional championship game played at the Botetourt Sports Complex on May 30.
Coming into the game, Appomattox had not given up a run in ten games, and early on, showed why, retiring the first twelve Lady Cougar batters.
Early errors in the field hurt the Lady Cougars, allowing three unearned runs and helping Appomattox build an early lead.
“It was a tough start,” said Lady Cougar head coach, Ryan Pendleton. “I don’t know if it was jitters or what, but our defense let us down some tonight. We’ve been playing pretty good defense all year. We were making silly mistakes. Some of it was they forced our hand. We made mistakes we normally don’t make.”
But “I thought our pitching was pretty good. They really didn’t have that many hits. We just made several errors at bad times,” said Pendleton. Journey Moore pitched the first three innings, allowing three earned runs. McKenzie Holt finished the game, giving up one earned run.
Down by six heading into the sixth inning, the Cougars bats came alive. Hayden Lawless led off with a single. A walk by Chloe Hubbard and a Journey Moore single loaded the bases for Lilly Hazelwood to drive in the first run for the Lady Cougars.
Hayden Lawless, McKenzie Holt and Journey Moore each had a hit for Patrick County on the night.
Appomattox closed out the Lady Cougars in the seventh inning, giving them the regional championship.
The season isn’t over for the Lady Cougars. As regional runner up, the Lady Cougars moved on to the state tournament, opening play at Central Wise on June 4.
“I told the girls, it’s not over,” said Pendleton. “At least we get to live to fight another day.”
