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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Jemison High School’s comeback bid fell just short on April 6 to Shelby County High School as the Panthers lost 8-6. The game was the Panthers penultimate AHSAA Class 5A Area 7 game of the season, and it was senior night for Jaclyn Lowery. This season, Jemison is giving each of their senior players their own senior night and having a team night at the end of the season.

“I wanted each player to have a night to celebrate with their family,” Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson said.

Shelby County jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning to put Jemison in a hole early. In the bottom half of the inning, Braelyn Bradford erased half the deficit launching a three-run home run over the center field fence. Bradford was 2-for-4 at the plate.

Shelby County added a run in the fifth inning, but the Panthers kept their offense humming with three more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Makayla Lang got the rally started with an RBI single, and Jaclyn Lowery followed with an RBI single of her own. Lang later scored on a wild pitch to bring the score to 7-6 after five innings.

“All around we made some great plays … And we went through three catchers and two pitchers in the game,” Robinson said. “We had kids playing out of position, but they said ‘Coach, I will do whatever I can do to help us be successful.’ No matter what the score is, that is a sign of a leader and the quality you want to see in your players. That is what makes me so proud of this team.”

Lowery was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, and Lang added two hits to Jemison’s 11 overall in the game. Lowery was also the starting pitcher for Jemison and got roughed up in four innings giving up six runs and striking out two Shelby County hitters. Kinsley Martin entered the game in the fifth inning and settled everything down, giving up just one run in the seventh inning and tallying three strikeouts.

Lowery led off the seventh inning for Jemison and reached via a walk, but the Panthers could not plate another run and fell 8-6. Trinity Bean was the other Jemison hitter with a multi-hit game going 2-for-4.

“We have 10 games left to play before the area tournament starts, and we have been improving and our team is taking steps forward,” Robinson said. “As long as we keep going forward, we will be okay. When you go into the area tournament everyone starts with a 0-0 record … When we start the area tournament, that is where we want to be playing our best.”

Jemison stays in Area 7 and plays their next game on April 11 traveling to Sylacauga High School at 5:30 p.m.