By Michael Lindsay
The Stone Memorial Lady Panthers closed the 2023 regular season on a high note Tuesday afternoon as they defeated Coalfield via mercy rule, 15-2.
Haley Dalton led Stone Memorial in the win as she went 2-4 with a pair of home runs and 5 RBIs. Sophomore catcher Kara VonAchen went 4-4 with 2 doubles, 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored for the Lady Panthers.
Cadence Cox picked up the win in the circle Tuesday as she struck out 4 and gave up 1 hit in 3 innings pitched.
Stone Memorial opened with 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning as a Cox single to left scored Ashley Whittenburg and VonAchen followed by a Bailey Dyer sacrifice fly to score Cox, making the score 3-0 after one.
The Lady Panthers grew their lead in the bottom of the second as VonAchen double scored Whittenburg to open the frame. Dalton followed with her first homer of the evening, a 3-run shot to left that traveled 262ft to give the Lady Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Coalfield scratched 2 runs across in the top of the third inning before the Lady Panthers answered with 8 runs in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding 15-2 lead. Hits by VonAchen and Cox drove in 3 runs to open the frame before Dalton’s second homer of the evening scored 2 runs. A Camdyn Holbrook triple, doubles from Chesney Cash and Whittenburg and a VonAchen single drove in the final four runs of Stone Memorial’s 15-2 victory.
The Lady Panthers close out the regular season at 9-15 overall and are scheduled to face DeKalb County in the first round of the District 7-3A tournament on Thursday, weather permitting.
