The Lady Greyhounds got their second shot at two of the region’s top teams with both ELCA and Union Grove coming to the JCHS softball field for a pair of region games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And although Jones County hung closer than in the previous meetings with both teams, the Lady Hounds fell short, dropping their overall record to 10-10 overall and 8-6 in region play.
“This is our second time through the region, and we’ve seen them already,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Tripp Burt said. “Our girls did a good job of battling back.”
Jones County will all but wrap up its region schedule this week with Thursday’s home game against Ola preceded by a pair of contests on Tuesday against Stockbridge, concluding a late-season push to secure the region’s fourth seed for a state tournament berth.
The Lady Hounds showed plenty of fight against ELCA.
Even after yielding a three-run homer in the top the third to trail 4-0, JCHS battled back.
After Haley Sargent and Myah Briscoe singled, Marissa Moore drew a walk to load the bases.
Ansley Pegg, who got the start in the pitcher’s circle against ELCA, got Jones County on the board with an infield RBI single prior to Tranasia Parker drawing a walk to drive in a run before the inning ended on a play at the plate. That wouldn’t be the only chance against the Chargers for the Lady Hounds, who came away empty after loading the bases in the fourth and being held to one run in the fifth with lone run via Briscoe being driven in.
“We did a good job of getting baserunners on and giving ourselves a chance,” Burt said. “We just didn’t get a hit when we needed to, and that was the difference.”
In a game in which Pegg pitched the full seven innings and gave up five hits, JCHS was led at the plate by Briscoe and Kaleigh Scarborough’s two hits with Scarborough also having a double.
The visiting Wolverines made an early lead stand up in Wednesday’s 11-5 win over the Lady Hounds, leading 3-0 through two innings before blowing things open with a five-run fifth inning to go ahead 8-2. JCHS mounted one run in the sixth and two in the seventh as it was led by four hits from Scarborough and two each from Ensley Barnes, Parker and Pegg. Parker’s day included a homer for the Lady Hounds.
