Lady Panthers dominate later innings for victory

Posted 3/16/23

It was the bottom of the fourth. The Lady Panthers of Alba-Golden and the Lady Jackets of Kemp had rocked the scoreboard in the first three innings, and the score stood tied, 6-6. 

Kalli …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Lady Panthers dominate later innings for victory

Posted

It was the bottom of the fourth. The Lady Panthers of Alba-Golden and the Lady Jackets of Kemp had rocked the scoreboard in the first three innings, and the score stood tied, 6-6. 

Kalli Trimble led off the inning with a walk. She took second on a passed ball and stole third. After Kayleigh Logan lined out to shortstop, Alexis Wilmut drew a walk and stole second. 

Into the box stepped the Lady Panther clean-up hitter, Skyler West. She had already crushed a ball off the fence for a stand-up double in the first. West took her measure and smashed a line-drive into centerfield. Trimble and Wilmut scampered home, and the Lady Panthers had broken the game open. 

Alba-Golden went on to defeat Kemp, 12-7, in a seven-inning win on a cool Friday evening in Alba-Golden. 

The game started as a scoring fest and ended with some excellent defense. 

Megan Wallace went the distance for the Lady Panthers, giving up eight hits while striking out 10 and issuing four free passes. Wallace improved as the game wore on, putting the Yellowjackets down in order on the third, fifth and sixth innings. 

Kemp jumped out to an early lead with two RBI-producing doubles from the middle of their order. Alba-Golden answered with five runs in the bottom of the first. Wilmut and Landrie Boyd each put balls in play on the ground which produced runs. Aggressive base running also accounted for an Alba-Golden score.

The middle of the Kemp order again hit pitches hard in the second. Two triples and a single put Kemp back on top 6-5. 

An Alyssa Murdock’s routine ground ball in the third inning allowed West to score from third on a fielder’s choice, and the Lady Panthers had tied the game after three complete innings.

Credit belongs to Wallace who, in the final four innings, had great success mixing her pitches and kept the Kemp hitters off balance. 

After the big fourth inning in which the Lady Panthers established a 9-6 lead, they added three more runs in the fifth. They left some runs unclaimed, however, as they had one runner thrown out at the plate and another picked off third base. 

Kemp pushed one more run across in the seventh with back-to-back base hits. The margin of victory was safe, however, and Alba-Golden took a well-deserved win. 

The next opportunity to catch the Lady Panthers at home will be March 21 against Fruitvale. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.