SOMERSET —    The Lady Raider softball team took a huge step on Monday evening defeating Wayne County 6-0 in the opening round of the 48th District Tournament at Southwestern.  The win guaranteed McCreary Central of their first appearance in the 12th Region Tournament since 2001 after an 11 year absence.  

  Making the trip even more special is that it comes via a win over longtime nemesis Wayne County who has knocked the Lady Raiders out in the district tournament in ten of those eleven years.  Only  in 2006 did Central play someone other than the Lady Cardinals in the first round of the district tournament, that season ended with an 8-0 loss to Southwestern.

  Since that 2006 season the Lady Raiders have suffered five consecutive losses to Wayne County in district tournament play with each of them coming by just a single run and two of them in extra innings.  The year prior, 2005 also saw Central fall by a single run in extra innings to the Lady Cards and two years prior to that was the first one run loss of what would be seven in nine seasons.

  Finally the Lady Raiders got over that obstacle and they did so without giving the Lady Cards much of a chance to pull out another close win.  McCreary pitcher Kaylee Cotton allowed Wayne just two hits and one walk while another runner reached on an error but those were the only four runners to reach base in the contest.  While the Central offense wasn’t overpowering they made use of opportunities given them such as seven walks and six errors to go along with their six hits.

  McCreary had runners on base in all six innings in which they batted with the first being the only frame without a significant scoring threat.  In that inning Cierra Terry reached base after a dropped third strike to start the inning but she was doubled off when Jamie Bennish popped up on a bunt attempt to the catcher.  In the second Megan Ross hit a two out liner to centerfield that got under the glove of Wayne’s Jamie Roberts and rolled to the fence.  Ross would end up at third but was stranded there as Brittany King struck out.

  Cotton had set down the Lady Cards in order in the first two innings but a one out error opened the door for their most serious scoring threat of the night when the following batter doubled to the gap in left-center to put runners on second and third with one out and the top of the lineup at the plate.  The Lady Raider defense would take care of the situation however when Lindsey Sullivan lifted a fly ball to Jamie Bennish in right field.  With the runner tagging at third Bennish pulled in the fly ball for out number two then fired to the plate.  Her throw pulled catcher Kelcy Gilreath up the third base line but was in plenty of time for Gilreath to apply the tag as the runner tried to get by ending the inning and keeping the game scoreless.

McCreary would again threaten in the third as Terry drew a two out walk and stole second.  Bennish then reached on an error by the shortstop that allowed Terry to move to third.   Bennish would also steal second while Cotton was working a full count but a pop out to third base by the Lady Raider pitcher again ended the threat with no runs crossing the plate.

  Wayne County would get their second and final hit of the game with one out in the fourth.  The runner advanced to second on a ground out to second base but Lady Raider centerfielder Megan Ross then made the defensive play of the game to keep the run from scoring on a tremendous diving catch in shallow left-centerfield that ended the inning.

  After leaving runners at third base the previous two innings McCreary finally dented the plate in the bottom of the fourth on three walks, two errors and a hit along with a stolen base and two wild pitches.  Shortstop Brianna Taylor started the inning off with abases on balls and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches while the following two batters struck out.   Taylor would come in to score the first run when Brittany King beat out a grounder to short that was bobbled by Sullivan, one of her three errors in the game.  Haley Jones followed with a line single to left field and Lauren Pennington walked to load the bases.  Leadoff hitter Cierra Terry then hit a hard liner down the third base line that deflected off the glove of the third baseman into foul territory just far enough to allow Alexandria West who was pinch running for Jones to slide safely into third before Wayne could get a force out.  King scored from third on the play to give Central a 2-0 lead.  The lead would become 3-0 when Bennish drew a walk to force in West from third.  Cotton would ground out to second to end the frame but McCreary already had all the runs they would need.

  A leadoff walk to start the fifth inning is the only baserunner the Lady Cards would get off of Cotton over the final three innings.  She would end the game surrendering just two hits and one walk in seven innings of work from the circle.

  McCreary would add another run in the fifth to extend the lead to 4-0on another single by Jones that scored Brianna Taylor who had led the inning off with a single.  The Lady Raiders were on the verge of breaking the game open with bases loaded and one out but Pennington grounded into a fielders choice that forced Ross out at the plate and Terry bounced back to the pitcher to keep the lead at just four.

  The Lady Raiders would go back on the attack in the sixth.  Bennish reached on an error, Cotton lifted a shallow fly ball that the centerfielder seemed to have a beed on but pulled up and allowed it to fall.  An out later Megan Maxwell drew a walk to load the bases.    Megan Ross then smacked her third hit of the game into left field to score Bennish and keep the bases loaded for Haley Jones who had hits in her previous two at bats.  This time though Jones would reach base and knock in a run via bases on balls to make the score 6-0.

  Wayne went in order in the seventh with Cotton recording her third strikeout of the game to end the contest and the decade long feeling of frustration.

  McCreary’s last trip to the 12th Region Tournament came in 2001 after beating Wayne 5-2 in the opening round of the district.  The Lady Raiders then lost 5-1 to Russell County in the championship game but came back in the first round of the regional tournament to defeat Boyle County 9-3.  They then fell to North Laurel 3-0 in the semi-finals as part of the Lady Jaguars run to the state championship.

48th District Championship

Tuesday, May, 22 at Southwestern

Southwestern  4

McCreary Cen. 0

  Following the excitement of earning a regional tournament berth on Monday the Lady Raiders returned to the field on Tuesday to face Southwestern in the district tournament finals.

  McCreary Central had beaten the Lady Warriors on thier home field 8-6 earlier in the season but this time Southwestern prevailed 4-0 behind the strong pitching performance of Sydney Foreman and an outstanding  game by the Southwestern defense.

  Central’s Cierra Terry reached base on a passed ball on strike three to start the game but a foul pop up bunt attempt by Jamie Bennish ended up being a double play as Terry was running on the pitch.

  Southwestern wasted no time jumping into the lead in their first at bat.  Ally Venable doubles to start the game and then scored when Destiny Molden reached on a throwing error.  Foremen followed with a single to bring in Molden and quickly give the Lady Warriors a 2-0 led.

  The score remain unchanged until the fourth when consecutive hits by Abby Smith, Venable and Molden brought two more runs across the plate for a 4-0 Lady Warrior lead.

  McCreary’s offensive threats were scarce as Foreman allowed just five hits with no walks while getting an errorless game from the defense behind her.  Central’s most significant threat came in the fifth.  Megan Ross led off with a liner toward the gap in right-center but was held to a single on a nice play by Sarah Smith to cut the ball off and get it back in.  One out later Haley Jones connected for her second hit of the game but a rare double play ball off the bat of Lauren Pennington ended the threat without a run scoring.

  Each of the Lady Warrior outfielders turned in a stellar play during the contest.  Smith also made a diving catch to rob Brianna Taylor of a hit in the third inning and in the sixth Hope Bruner made a running catch just steps from the left field fence to take extra bases away from Terry

  McCreary collected just five hits with Megan Ross and Haley Jones getting two each to go along with a seventh inning double by Brianna Taylor.

  Kaylee Cotton pitched all six innings for McCreary giving up three earned runs on eight hits, two walks and a hit batter.