It was a bumpy start for Daviess County, but their bats came alive the second time through the lineup and they easily pulled away for a 14-4 win in five innings over Grayson County in the opening round of the 3rd Region softball tournament Monday at Vastwood Park.
The Lady Panthers (22-14) were held hitless through two innings before Abby Newman’s one-out single sparked a string of six consecutive hits, capped off with a two-run homer by Emma Young. In the span of 11 pitches, Daviess County turned a deficit into a 5-2 lead after three frames.
Newman shined all night for Daviess County, going 3-for-4 and scoring each time she reached base. She said confidence was key for both her and the team.
“Confidence has been a big thing for me this year,” she said. “Learning to trust myself and trust my abilities has helped me a lot. Once a couple people get on, motivation shifts and tables turn. We just need those couple of hits to get started and then everyone starts rolling.”
Head coach John Biggs said while Newman was seeing the ball well at the plate, he was most impressed with her defensive effort. A couple of balls bounced off teammate’s gloves but Newman finished off the play to help work out of jams.
“She made two plays off deflections and those are not balls that are hit that you’ve got to go get,” Biggs said. “Those are balls that are going in one direction and she has to stop and go a different direction. Those were two big outs at that point. I thought that was big for us.”
Grayson County (7-25), who struggled all season before upsetting Butler County in the 12th District tournament to advance to region, took advantage of opportunities early. They got on the board first in the top of the third, scoring two unearned runs after a pair of Daviess County errors.
“We were a little bit slow, but I thought we made good adjustments offensively,” Biggs said. “The thing I was probably disappointed with was our defense. We have to clean that up. There were some other things that happened during the game that weren’t errors (statistically), but they were mental errors that allowed (Grayson County) to take extra bases.”
The Lady Cougars added two more runs in the fifth, but the Lady Panthers stayed hot and pulled away without much difficulty.
Millie Roberts led off the bottom of the fourth with a towering solo home run, and Newman added a run on a single by Savanah Northern. Northern and Sydney Howard both scored on a double Emily Stanley that nearly left the park.
Holding a 9-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Daviess County plated five runs with two outs on the board. Young drove in one with a single and Howard followed with a two-run double, then Howard scored on a passed ball to make it 13-4. A walk and error loaded the bases for Roberts, who drove a ball back up the middle to knock in the final run.
“It’s one of those games where the offense kind of picked up the defense,” Biggs said. “We were less patient early on, but once we started to settle in we started hitting some balls. This group has been that way all year. It’s kind of contagious.”
Greysee Whiteker picked up the complete-game win for the Lady Panthers, making her first appearance in the circle in a few weeks. She allowed two earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
“She hasn’t pitched in a while for us,” Biggs said. “I was glad she was able to come out and have a nice outing. I thought she did a good job.”
Newman’s three hits were a game high, and five different players added two hits each for Daviess County. Northern and Young each drove in three runs and scored twice. Roberts, Howard and Stanley had a pair of RBIs each, and Howard added two runs.
The Lady Panthers advance to Tuesday’s semifinal at 7 p.m. against Hancock County, who beat Ohio County 16-3 in five innings on Monday.
GCHS 002-02—4-5-2
DCHS 005-35—14-14-3
WP: Whiteker. LP: O’Neal. 2B: Howard, Northern, Stanley (DC). HR: Roberts, Young (DC).
