By Michael Lindsay
The Stone Memorial Lady Panther softball team improved to 6-1 overall Thursday afternoon as they defeated Upperman in District 7-3A action, 2-1.
“I’m super proud of the girls tonight for persevering,” said Stone Memorial head coach Brittany Bilbrey. “We got an early lead and held it as long as we could; credit to Upperman for never giving up and making something happen in the sixth inning. I’m proud of us for working through adversity and finding a way to win.”
Freshman pitcher Kenzie Jackson led the way for the Lady Panthers as she struck out 8 batters while allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while also driving in a run in the victory. Jackson has 76 strikeouts while surrendering only 5 hits and 10 walks through her first 7 high school games in the circle.
“Kenzie has been consistent for us all year,” said Bilbrey. “In our only loss, we gave up unearned runs. I’m very proud of our defense behind her. We had no errors, and we’ve struggled with that in the past. We’re preaching being tough and continuing to grow.”
Ashley Whittenburg led Stone Memorial at the plate as she went 2-3 with a run scored.
Upperman pitcher Reece Kimmell struck out 7 batters and walked only one for the Lady Bees while going 1-3 at the plate with a triple and an RBI.
Stone Memorial struck first in the bottom of the first inning as a Jackson sacrifice fly scored Whittenburg to give the Lady Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Neither team found home through the ensuing four innings until a Kimmell triple scored Gracie Butler to tie the game at 1-1 entering the bottom of the sixth.
The Lady Panthers responded as a two-out single by Karlie Overly followed by a Breanna Looper bunt scored a run for the Lady Panthers, giving them a 2-1 lead entering the seventh.
“That was a called bunt for a hit there,” said Bilbrey. “Breanna did her job; we thought we needed to make them make a play, and it worked out.”
Jackson sat down the Lady Bees in order in the top of the seventh inning to seal her team’s 2-1 victory.
“This evens us back up at 1-1 in the district,” said Bilbrey. “It’s been a minute since we’ve beat Upperman. Looking ahead, we’ve got three district games next week, so after that we’ll know a lot.”
Up next for Stone Memorial is a trip to non-district foe York Institute on Friday while Upperman travels to Cumberland County next Tuesday. The Lady Panthers are scheduled to face Livingston Academy, White County and DeKalb County in district play next week.
