Lady Patriots’ Roller Coaster Week
Carleigh Bell
The softball team at Pinewood Christian Academy played three games last week that proved to be somewhat of a roller coaster ride. The first game PCA hosted the Lady Spartans of Edmund Burke Academy in their third region contest of the season. A string of hits by Hanna Anderson, Ansley Howard, Claire Lewis, Macy Pirkle, Jordan Jernigan and a double by Carleigh Bell put the Patriots in control 6-0 in the bottom of the second inning. Pitcher Raegan Waters was along with the PCA’s defense was able to capture the shutout 8-0.
The next game for the Lady Patriots took a turn in the other direction as the Lady Hornets of Westfield traveled from Perry to Bellville for a double header with the defending state champs. The game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth inning as the Patriots felt the sting of the Hornets as they put 3 runs on the board. Shelton Rogers bunted to get on first and stole second in the bottom of the sixth inning. She was brought home by a base hit to left field by Raegan Waters making the score 3-1. Pinewood’s fate was sealed with an out of the park homerun by Westfield in the top of the seventh inning. The Lady Patriots found themselves down for the first time in a while with the final score 4-1.
The second game of the double header would be an uphill battle for PCA. The Lady Hornets took the lead 2-0 at their first bat. The Lady Patriots began to battle back in the bottom of the fifth. The inning began with a hit by Jordan Jernigan, a bunt by Shelton Rogers, and a hit to right field by Hanna Anderson to score Jernigan. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Carleigh Bell hits a double to centerfield and scored by Raegan Waters which tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh. The sudden death rule for the tie breaker began with a runner on second base for Westfield in the top of the eighth. They scored with a huge hit to right field, but Bell hits another double for Pinewood to once again tie the game 3-3. The ninth inning would bring an end to this standoff but not without a grand finale. Westfield once again scores and leaves Pinewood to answer, and they do just that with Taylor Hendrix on second base, Shelton Rogers puts down the bunt, and Carleigh Bell hits a line drive to left field to score them both for the victory 5-4 over Westfield. Raegan Waters was the winning pitcher.
By: Sharon Rogers
