Apollo opened up the Softball Beach Bash with a victory over North Laurel, while Owensboro fell short in the same tournament against Bethlehem.
Apollo vs. North Laurel
The E-gals offense caught fire to forge a late comeback, grabbing an 8-4 win over North Laurel in their first game of the Softball Beach Bash.
The Lady Jaguars opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of three Apollo errors. After scoring a run thanks to a passed ball an RBI groundout from freshman Saige McClure quickly made it a 2-0 game.
The following at-bat senior Hallie Proffitt delivered an RBI single, helping North Laurel take a 3-0 lead going into the fourth. Despite the Lady Jaguars seemingly taking all momentum in the game, the E-gals responded in the top of the fifth.
With runners on first and second and one out, sophomore Mallory Velotta got the first run of the game for Apollo with an RBI single. Junior Morgan Julian followed this up with a two-run double to tie the game, before an RBI single from junior K’Asia Palmer gave the E-gals a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.
After a single by Apollo and a pair of errors for North Laurel, they nearly escaped the inning after a strikeout made it two outs for the sixth. But Palmer came through once again, singling to make it a 6-3 game, followed by a two-run single from junior Morgan Frizell to make it 8-3.
The Lady Jaguars were able to get a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but it was too little too late and Apollo secured an 8-4 win to open up the week-long tournament.
Julian, Palmer and Frizzell led the charge offensively, as they all recorded a pair of RBIs each. Velotta also had one on the day, while Julian led the way with three hits.
Owensboro vs Bethlehem
Unable to string together hits on the day, the Lady Devils fell to Bethlehem 6-1 in their opening matchup of the Softball Beach Bash.
While Owensboro was able to get its first of the day in the top of the first thanks to a single from freshman Addison Hill, its offense was not able to capitalize.
This allowed the Banshees to take an early—which they did—starting with a leadoff home run from sophomore Kaitlyn Cissell. After an error the following at-bat, Bethlehem added another run thanks to a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead into the second inning.
In the bottom of the third, the Banshees would add three more runs to make it a 5-0 game, but Owensboro were able to make some traction offensively in the top of the fourth. A leadoff single from sophomore Sophie Moorman did the trick and freshman Kirsten Tindle followed up with a single of her own to make it a 5-1 game.
However, the Lady Devils couldn’t register another hit in the game and Bethlehem was able to expand its lead and close out a 6-1 win. Errors were a key reason in the loss for Owensboro as Tindle allowed six runs, but only one of them was an earned run. She also struck out four on the day, while tossing all six innings.
Offensively, Hill, Moorman, Tindle and eighth grader Reese Boswell were the only players to register a hit on the day for the Lady Devils. Tindle was the only player to have an RBI.
Following the loss Owensboro sits at 2-6 overall and has a quick turnaround, as they are set to take on Oldham County at 9 a.m. on Monday.
