‘They just kept fighting and fighting’

Upset-minded Lady Hounds go down swinging to Eastside

  • Cate Downey hurled a shutout in the second game of last week’s first-round series to extend the best-of-three to a third game. BRAD HARRISON/Staff
    Cate Downey hurled a shutout in the second game of last week’s first-round series to extend the best-of-three to a third game. BRAD HARRISON/Staff
  • Sydney Hawkins settles under a pop fly during Thursday’s third game against Eastside. BRAD HARRISON/Staff
    Sydney Hawkins settles under a pop fly during Thursday’s third game against Eastside. BRAD HARRISON/Staff
  • A hit from Tranasia Parker let to two runs for the Lady Hounds against Eastside BRAD HARRISON/Staff
    A hit from Tranasia Parker let to two runs for the Lady Hounds against Eastside BRAD HARRISON/Staff
  • Kaleigh Scarborough also added to the pitching effort. BRAD HARRISON/Staff
    Kaleigh Scarborough also added to the pitching effort. BRAD HARRISON/Staff

    COVINGTON – Typically in the best-of-three format currently used in the GHSA softball postseason, teams have a hard time coming back from an early loss. Case in point? In last week’s opening round, all but one Class AAAA series ended in a 2-0 series sweep.

    The Lady Greyhounds, however, were the exception to giving in easily.

    Facing an Eastside team that had lost just once in regular season that was also unbeaten at home, Jones County gave the Eagles all that they could handle and then some, coming back from losing last Wednesday’s first game to even the series and force Thursday’s decisive third game, which was won 9-5 by Eastside, ending the season for JCHS.

    >>SEE THE FULL PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE PLAYOFFS

    “The grit that they showed, to lose game one and come out and force a game three, that does not happen very much,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Tripp Burt said. “They just kept fighting and fighting. I’m so proud of them.”

    Jones County ends its season with a record of 14-15, having fought tooth and nail in a 10-team region to make the postseason. The Lady Hounds will go into the offseason graduating four seniors, three of which have played a lot of softball. The other side of that is that many younger players got experience down the home stretch of the season.

    “We had a tough region, but our seniors, they worked hard and got after it and set an example for our underclassmen, who also got after it,” Burt said. “We had a lot of fight in us and got better. (Wednesday) we started seven freshmen and sophomores. The future is bright we just have to keep working.”

    After an 8-0 loss in Wednesday’s series opener, one in which the Eagles led 3-0 early, Jones County was in position to do one of two things – fight to the finish or roll over easily. They chose the first of those two options, winning 3-0 to hand the Eagles their first home loss of the season.

    In a game that ended up being a low-scoring pitcher’s duel, Cate Downey was up to the task, pitching seven shutout innings.

    “She did a great job. When you shut a team like that out, you have done something good,” Burt said.

    With Downey and the defense behind her silencing Eastside, JCHS only needed a small bit of offense to get over the top and extend the series. Ensley Barnes stepped up to provide that in the third inning on a two-run single with an insurance run by Myah Briscoe an inning later on an RBI double.

    That sent the series to Thursday, where JCHS led 2-0 in the top of the first on a Tranasia Parker double before the Eagles would rally, evening the score 2-2 in the bottom of the first and leading 4-2 after two innings. Eastside would go on to extend the advantage 8-2, but in typical Lady Greyhound fashion, JCHS didn’t easily quit on a night filled with chilly air, as the Lady Hounds fought back to trail 9-5 prior to the Eagles closing out the win.