The Alba-Golden softball season came to an end Friday in Bullard as Shelbyville took the deciding third game 9-3.

If all the errors were squeezed out of the Lady Panthers opener last Wednesday, there was a win hiding in there somewhere.  

As it was, the game was laden by Alba-Golden errors. Five fielding errors and three head-scratching mental errors handed Shelbyville a 7-6 win and put the Lady Panthers in a quick hole.

It all started out good. The Lady Panthers put three runs on the board in the first behind a Shelbyville fielding error and a 2-RBI double by Lilly Thorn. 

Capitalizing on Alba-Golden fielding errors to start both the second and third innings, the Lady Dragons scored twice in the second and tied the game in the third. Smart, aggressive base-running by the Shelbyville nine fueled their offense.

The Lady Panthers added two runs in the fifth courtesy of a dropped fly ball in right field. In the bottom half, Shelbyville scored three runs, one of which the Lady Panthers had the Shelbyville runner dead to rights at home plate but could not complete the throw and tag.    

Down, 6-5, Alba-Golden tied the game in the sixth. Jaya Sitar reached on a single and took second base on an overthrow. She scored when Averi Stevenson looped a single just behind third base.

Shelbyville scored in the bottom of the sixth, on a play which described the whole game for Alba-Golden. A Shelbyville runner scored by tagging from third base after a pop-up was fielded in the Alba-Golden infield. After the catch, the throw was made to second base and not the plate.

Despite the multitude of Lady Panther errors which included three throwing errors and two fielding errors, confusion over calling for catches, unnecessary throws in the infield and a lack of rules knowledge, the Lady Panthers were still within reach of taking game one.

In the seventh, lead-off hitter Alexis Wilmut singled cleanly to center. Thorn sent a line-drive to short which was dropped. With runners on first and second, the next hitter struck out but took off for first with the dropped third strike, despite the base being occupied.

The runner on second, sensing that she should be running, was then caught mid-way on the basepaths between second and third. The Lady Panthers had two outs with a runner on first, instead of one out with runners at first and second. Any potential rally died.  

It was a game best forgotten. At this stage of playoff softball, errors – especially mental errors – will be costly. 

The Lady Panthers rebounded in game two on Thursday, knotting the series with a win by the same 7-6 score. It set up the rubber match last Friday night. 

The Shelbyville Lady Dragons proved to be too much, taking game three and the regional semi-final win, 9-3.