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Lady Raiders stumble, but are moving forward |
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Written by Greg Bird
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Friday, 09 April 2010 |
Illness and injury plagued the Lady Raiders Monday evening as they blew an early lead in a 16-11 loss to Casey County.
Illness and injury plagued the Lady Raiders Monday evening as they blew an early lead in a 16-11 loss to Casey County.
With three starters out and a fourth battling through a nasty illness, McCreary jumped out to an 8-1 lead, but suffered a breakdown in later innings, at one point allowing 16 unanswered runs and committing 11 errors.
After allowing the Lady Rebels an unearned run in the top of the first, McCreary jumped out to a big lead.
The Lady Raiders sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, collecting 7 runs on 7 hits. McCreary added another score in the second to take an 8-1 lead.
The problems began in the top of the third. Starting pitcher Taniesha Vanover, who was fighting a bad illness, was forced to leave the game. Lesley Lawson took over in relief and struggled early on, walking the first few batters she faced.
McCreary still clung to an 8-7 lead going into the fourth inning when the Lady Raiders’ defense continued to suffer. After already committing six miscues in the first three frames, the Lady Raiders booted five more over the next four, leading to a total of 12 unearned runs charged against McCreary pitching for the game.
Despite Monday’s loss, Coach Dave Durham is very pleased with the way the season is developing. With wins over Madison Southern and Jackson County Friday, McCreary has already surpassed last season’s win totals, and with 87 runs scored over the first 11 games, they are nearing their total for all of 2009.
“We have already won more games than last season and our run production is way up,” he said. “We know we are going to challenge a lot of teams this season, and we will be in contention all year long.”
“We suffered a mental breakdown against Casey County, and that should not happen,” he said. “With the senior leadership we have and the talent on the roster, we can’t afford to beat ourselves like we did Monday.”
“At least it happened early on in the season and hopefully we got it out of our system. Going forward, I expect us to forget that game and move on.”
The Lady Raiders struggles continued Tuesday when they dropped their first District game of the year, losing to Wayne County 10-3. The loss evened their record at 6-6.
The Lady Raiders will have a chance to rebound this weekend. The will host Lincoln County Thursday afternoon (5:30) and then will travel to play in the Tate’s Creek Invitational in Lexington Friday and Saturday. They will return home next Tuesday for a District match-up against Southwestern (5:30).
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