In the morning opener, the Cougars had to come from behind to defeat Monroe County 7-3. In the second game, the Cougars sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning on their way to a 16-1 win over Trigg County in four innings.
In championship play during the afternoon, the Cougars ran into a very tough Hopkinsville team and came out on the short end of a 5-0 semi-final contest. In the consolation final, the Cougars played their most disappointing game, falling to the Central Hardin Lady Bruins 5-1.
MONROE COUNTY
It took awhile for the Cougar bats to get going in this one, but fortunately enough, they did come to life in time for Grayson County to score a come-from-behind win over the Lady Falcons. Lee Ann Wood had a big day at the plate for the Cougars, going 3-for-4, including a home run, and driving in four runs.
The Cougars got on the board first, scoring a single run in the top of the first. Shannon Stapleton beat out an infield hit, then stole second and third. With two outs, Wood drove Stapleton in with a solid single to left.
The Lady Falcons tied it in the bottom of the inning. Michelle Critchelow walked the leadoff hitter, then walked another batter with one out. First baseman Jill Stinson then looped a little dunker into right center that drove in the run. Cougar center fielder Cindy Crawford was able to get a force out at second for the second out of the inning before catcher Betty Jo Allen gunned down Stinson trying to steal second to end the inning.
Monroe grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second inning when Lady Falcon pitcher Jackie Stinson timed an 0-2 pitch from Critchelow and belted it over the fence in center. When Critchelow continued to have control difficulties, putting runners at second and third on a pair of walks and a wild pitch, head coach John Skaggs brought in Jenelle Pressley in relief. With two outs, Pressley walked the first batter she faced to load the bases, but she then got shortstop Heather Wilson on strikes to end the threat.
The Cougars used Stapleton's speed to score another run in the third to tie things up. The Cougar senior beat out another infield hit, then stole second base. She moved to third on a groundout from Beth Glasscock, then scored on an infield out by Allen.
The Lady Falcons went ahead in the bottom of the third and were threatening to make it a big inning before Pressley got out of the jam. Jill Stinson singled with one out, then went to third when catcher Kelly Baxter was safe on an error by Cougar second baseman Cindy Langley. Pressley walked Jackie Stinson to load the bases, but got the next batter to fly out. However, left fielder Hillary Yokley drove a ball through the right side for an RBI single to put Monroe ahead 3-2. Pressley got the next batter to ground out to end the inning.
Grayson County tied it in the fourth. Langley singled, stole second and third, then came home on Pressley's two-out single to left.
The Cougars went ahead to stay with a single run in the fifth after two were out. Allen singled to left and was replaced on the base paths by April Kinkade. Kinkade stole second, then raced home on a single to right from Wood.
The Cougars added three insurance runs in the top of the seventh. With one out, Glasscock doubled to the fence in center field. Kinkade went in as a courtesy runner and she crossed the plate on an RBI single by Allen. When Allen went in to second base on the throw to the plate, she was replaced on the bases by Amy Satterfield. A wild pitch moved Satterfield to third base, but it wound up not making any difference as Wood got all of a 3-1 pitch and sent it over the fence in right-center to make the score 7-3.
Pressley then worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, getting a great play from Stapleton at short to end the game. Stapleton made a diving stop in the hole at third, scrambled to her feet and threw a rocket to first to just nip Jackie Stinson for the final out.
TRIGG COUNTY
There was no suspense at all in this game as the first 10 batters for the Cougars reached base before they finished by scoring nine runs. They added three more in the second, one in the third and three more in the fourth to have the game called by the 15-run rule.
Stapleton was perfect at the plate for the game, going 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in a pair. Wood added to her big day, driving in two more runs with a first-inning single before being replaced by Rebekah Pierce in the second inning.
Meanwhile, Critchelow found a cure for her wildness and held the Lady Wildcats hitless for three innings. The only run Trigg scored came in the fourth. Critchelow walked the leadoff hitter, then advanced her to second on a wild pitch. A ground out moved the runner to third, and another ground out drove in the run. But, it hardly mattered as the Cougar bats pounded two Trigg pitchers for 11 hits.
HOPKINSVILLE
The Cougars ran into a very tough pitcher in this one as Lady Tiger hurler Kelly Vooris scattered five Cougar hits and held them scoreless for seven innings. Grayson County had runners in all but the sixth inning, and had runners in scoring position three times, but could not break through on Vooris.
The Lady Tigers got the only run they would need in the first inning. Speedster center fielder Renikka Toliver singled with one out, stole second, advanced to third on a ground out then scored when Langley dropped a popup that should have been the third out of the inning.
Pressley pitched this game and deserved a better fate as she gave up just three earned runs. Four singles and a Cougar error led to three runs in the fifth inning, then a single, a ground out and another single gave the Lady Tigers their final run in the sixth.
CENTRAL HARDIN
This was a tough loss to swallow, especially since the Cougars had beaten this team soundly at home the previous week. However, freshman pitcher Anna Morgan proved very tough to solve for the Cougar hitters. Grayson County managed six hits against Morgan, but the right-hander was able to strand eight Cougar runners on the day.
The only Grayson County run came in the fifth inning. Alicia Strickland led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Crawford. Stapleton singled to left to send Strickland to third. Stapleton stole second base to give the Cougar a pair of runners in scoring position. Glasscock followed with a little fly ball that was dropped by right fielder Jade Riggs for an error and Strickland came home to score. Morgan then fanned the Cougars' top hitters, Wood and Allen to end the threat and end the Cougars' hopes.
After an error helped the Lady Bruins score two runs in the first inning, three errors in the seventh led to three more runs and the Cougars were out of the running.
The Cougars' record now stands at 17-16 as they head into the last week of the regular season. They will host the District Tournament next week, then will also host the Regional Tournament the following week.
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