Lady Cats Fall In "All A" Regional Tournament

Senior pitcher Rachael Duncan throws to a Hancock County batter.

Darren Doyle, story and photos
The Lady Cats fell 5-2 to Hancock County Tuesday night in the All A Regional Tournament, hosted by Edmonson County at James Woodcock Field in Brownsville.

In a very equally matched contest, the difference simply came down to a couple of big at-bats by the Lady Hornets that allowed them to take control of the game.

The Lady Cats got off to a solid start with a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but one swing of the bat from the Lady Hornets with two on in the 4th netted a couple of runs for Hancock and the game was tied 2-2.

The 5th inning was unkind to the Lady Cats as a couple of Edmonson County errors put the Lady Hornets in scoring position and Hancock took the lead with one-run double with no outs. 

Leading 3-2, Hancock sac bunted as the Lady Cats got the out at first base, but an errant throw to home got away from catcher Rebecca Massey and two more runs scored to make things 5-2, which would be the final score.

"We're not going to make excuses or blame this or that," said coach Jeremy Garmon. "There was a very tight strike zone tonight and (pitcher) Rachael (Duncan) had to throw some right down the middle, and she gave up some hits. The strike zone was pretty much the same for both teams, though, I'll say that."

Alex Whitfill started the Lady Cats off in the 7th with a walk but after a fly out, Whitfill was doubled up on her way to second as Hancock caught a hard line drive and threw back to first to end the game.

Rachael Duncan threw 6 innings, and gave up 3 earned runs on 5 hits and one walk while striking out 5. The Lady Cats were led offensively by first baseman Megan Dockery as she went 2-3 with a single and a double. 

Whitfill was 1-2 with a walk and Kayla Whittington was 1-3. Coach Garmon said the next two weeks could determine an entire season.

"We've got 11 games in the next 8 days, and these are good teams," he said. "It's going to be very tough and we're going to find out what our team is made of, but I've said this all year, I love this squad. We've got some things to work on, and we'll keep working hard."