When Annie Newman smashed a line drive straight at Meade County’s shortstop for a double play, it seemed Daviess County’s first-inning momentum had stalled. Then the Lady Panthers responded with five two-out runs, capped off by Storey Humes massive three-run homer en route to a 7-1 win over Meade County and a seventh straight trip to the 3rd Region Championship.
“I thought we set the tone in the first inning,” Daviess County Head Coach John Biggs said. “…We kept hitting the ball hard and passing the bat along. There wasn’t a letdown, and we just battled. We had really great approaches at the plate. We had to prepare for two different pitchers as we weren’t really sure who we were going to get.”
Kylie Rickard led off the game with a double down the right field line, but after Shelby Bennett walked, Rickard was doubled off second on Newman’s line drive. Stepping into the box, Hancock kicked off the Lady Panthers two-out rally – doubling home Bennett. After Callie Smith walked, Briley Henry singled home Hancock, before Hume cleared the bases with her three-run homer.
Meade County trimmed the lead to 5-1 in the second on a Kaelyn Ledford RBI single. Ledford, who took over in the circle for the Lady Wave at the end of the first, stifled Daviess County in the second.
Meade County seemed on the verge of continuing to claw back in the top of the third, but Hume pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to escape unscathed. The senior settled down the rest of the way, allowing one earned run and striking out seven over seven innings.
“We were pitching to contact, and she knows she has a really strong defense behind her,” Biggs said. “We had to make some adjustments in the game, as some pitches she wasn’t really comfortable throwing some. So, we made some adjustments on what we called, and that is the maturity of her coming, us talking, and her telling me what she is throwing and what she wants to do.”
The Lady Panthers picked up two massive insurance runs down the stretch courtesy of solo homers by Smith and Hancock.
Standing in the way of the Lady Panthers seventh straight 3rd Region title is an overly familiar opponent in Apollo.
“We are going to have the same approach,” Biggs said. “We have to go up there and quality at bats. We can’t go up there and just swing at anything. We have to have a plan and get a plan together.”
