The Alba-Golden Lady Panthers held their softball home opener last Tuesday, hosting the Quitman Lady Bulldogs.

With mostly dominant pitching and some solid at-bats late, Quitman turned what was an early nail-biter into a 7-3 runaway victory.

After fouling a couple pitches off of Alba-Golden pitcher Skyler West, Alexis O’Neal hit a leadoff single up the middle and just like that, the season was alive and running.

West and Lady Bulldog starter Kennedi Elmore threw three strikeouts each in the first inning.

Elmore opened the third inning with a hit off West. After a walk and two strikeouts, freshman Ashley Davis drove Elmore home with a hit up the middle to take the 1-0 lead.

Addison Marcee led off the fourth inning with a single, stole second base and was driven in by an Elmore hit.

Down 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth, Alba-Golden took a different tack the second time through their line-up. Abby Hallman squared up to bunt, but Elmore was able to field it. Cacie Lennon squared up and deadened the ball into the dirt, successfully reaching first for the Lady Panthers’ first hit. Lennon stole second, then reached third on a groundout by West. Kayli Covey drove her home to make it a one-run game.

After two more Elmore strikeouts in the fifth, she gave up her first walk to Erin Langston. Hallman bunted her way to first. An errant Elmore pitch let them move to second and third. Lennon laid down a bunt that scored Langston and moved Hallman to third. Hallman stole home on another wild pitch. Elmore regained control and struck out West, her twelfth K of the night, but not before falling behind Alba-Golden 3-2.

The top of the sixth saw the top of the Quitman line-up face West for a third time. O’Neal started things off with a hit, and Skylar Flores ran the bases in her place. A sacrifice bunt and groundout moved her to third, but no farther.

O’Neal took the mound for the Lady Bulldogs in the sixth inning.

Covey got a hit into right field, ran through first base and shaded a step or two inside the foul line, turned to her left to head back to the bag, was tagged and called out. After Lady Panther coach Jamie Webster had a calm, lengthy discussion with the umpires, the call stood.

Kylie Kennedy drew a walk. O’Neal then dispatched Reese Michaels and Rylee Wilcoxson on strikeouts.

Quitman came to the plate in the seventh still trailing 3-2, needing at least one run to stay in the game. They scored five.

Lindsey Hornaday walked to first then stole second. Carly Spears hit a pop fly to shallow left that was dropped, putting runners at the corners. Davis put down a bunt. The throw to first was wide, which scored Hornaday to tie the game 3-3 and put both runners into scoring position.

Coach Webster visited the mound to have a chat with the infield but left West on the mound to face Madyson Pence.

Pence hit a single that brought in Davis and Spears, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 5-3 margin.

Marcee drew a walk. Kynlee Love and Elmore hit groundouts that advanced the runners, allowing Pence and Marcee to cross home plate and put Quitman up 7-3 before West got a tenth strikeout to finish the top of the seventh.

Three groundouts by Alba-Golden saw a quick end to the game, giving O’Neal the win for the Lady Bulldogs.

For their first time playing with their full squad, the Lady Panthers hung with their cross-county competitors unexpectedly well. Coach Webster was pleased, since they had yet to even have a full team practice since the multi-sport athletes from the bidistrict champion basketball team joined them after their final game of their season the previous Saturday.

“We have a great starting point for sure,” she shared.

With tournaments on consecutive weekends Quitman coach Ryan Turney wants to ensure their “team dynamic continues to grow, our energy stays extremely high and we get a lot of different girls a shot at multiple positions,” to prepare for district play.