times staff
sportswriter
The biggest game on the Lady Pirates softball schedule for the past 12 seasons has been the district showdowns against a perennial district and regional favorite. Playing that game after a nine day layoff due to weather and Spring Break makes it a tougher contest. The Estill County Lady Engineers has been the one team Powell seems to try to gauge their progress in most seasons. The two teams met for the first time this past Monday, a close game got away from Powell due to miscues and missed opportunities as Estill picked up a 12-2 win.
But the score was not really indicative of the game.
Estill opened the game managing to manufacture a run. Kaylee Covey, the Lady ‘Neers pitcher singled with one out in the top of the first. Covey stole second base and moved to third on a fly ball. Covey scored a two out single to left by Kaylee Riddell. Estill led 1-0.
Powell did manage to get a runner to third with one out in their half of the inning. Erika Howard led off with a single and stole second. Howard went to third on a ground ball by Olivia Nickell. But Powell could not push the run across. After holding Estill in the second inning, once again the Lady Pirates had an opportunity to light up the scoreboard.
Powell’s Emily Branham led off with a single and took second when the left fielder misplayed the ball. Branham then stole third base. The threat died there as the next three batters struck out, stranding another scoring opportunity.
Estill put together a big inning in the third. The Lady Engineers sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, taking advantage of four hits and two errors to push five runs across the plate. Still took a commanding 6-0 lead.
Estill managed to make it 7-0 adding another run in the fourth. Lindsey Wood reached first on a bunt single stole second and scored on one out double by Sarah Wiseman. Powell held Estill scoreless with a three up, three down inning in the fifth inning.
Powell finally got on the scoreboard in their half of the fifth. With one out, Howard and Nickell picked up back-to-back singles. Following a strike out, Haleigh Bauer drew a walk to load the bases for Branham. Powell’s third baseman hit a single to right, scoring Howard and Nickell to make it 7-2. But Powell’s threat ended there.
Estill went to work again in the top of the sixth inning. The visitors sent nine batters to the plate, scoring five more runs on five hits. Powell went down in order in their half of he inning. Estill picked up the mercy run win, 12-2.
The Engineers picked up 13 hits, while Powell managed five hits. The visitors took advantage of two big innings, Powell’s two errors and aggressive base running. The Lady Pirates stranded seven runners and struck out nine times. Not withstanding the two big five run innings, the teams played a close game.
Powell fell to 5-3 on the year, 2-1 in the district.
The Lady Pirates were schedule to play George Rogers Clark this past Tuesday in Winchester, before returning home on Thursday for a game against Nicholas County. Powell will then travel to Leslie County on Friday and to Knott Central on Saturday.