Jemison softball team preserves unbeaten mark
Published 1:16 pm Tuesday, February 25, 2014
By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser
The Jemison softball team’s perfect start to the season was put in jeopardy on Tuesday as the Panthers were forced to come up with a little magic late in the game in order to pull off an 8-7 win over Thorsby.
The Panthers struck first when a Jaclyn Lewis lead-off single set up a run-scoring single by Taylor Ray to give Jemison a 1-0 lead.
The Rebels answered in the bottom half of the inning, when Ashlyn Chancellor’s single started a rally.
An infield ground ball by Taylor McManus scored Chancellor, and a single by Lillyanna Barnett led to a Christian Niece RBI to give the Rebels (0-2) a 2-1 lead.
Jessica Pashcal started the top of the second inning with a triple and would later be driven in by Morgan Lucas to tie the game at 2-all.
Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when the Rebels put five runs on the board to take a 7-2 lead.
With Chelsey Ellison reaching on a walk and Wendy Spigener on a single, a double by Brooke Lewis cut the Rebel lead to three runs.
An Emily Spain single put two Panther runners on base for a game-tying three-run home run by Destiny Bailey.
With the game tied at 7-all, an Ellison single set up a run-scoring ground ball by Jessica Paschal to give the Panthers a one-run lead going to the bottom half of the seventh inning.
Two Rebels singles and a walk loaded the bases, but with two outs, a ground ball to Lucas ended the Rebels’ comeback hopes and improved the Panthers to a perfect 5-0 on the season.