Steady offense and strong performances from Sophia Cain and Raylee Roby in the circle led to an 11-3 district road win over the E-gals, helping Daviess County stay undefeated in district play.
The Lady Panthers wasted no time getting going at the plate, as a walk and an error to start the game put runners on the corners with no outs. Freshman Annie Newman delivered an RBI single to put them on the board following a strikeout, but it was a triple from freshman Callie Smith—which she scored on after an offline throw—to give them a 3-0 inning going into the bottom of the first.
Daviess County picked up right where they left off in the second as well, getting a leadoff single from sophomore Danielle Beckwith, a walk from junior Makayla Rowan and then a bunt single from sophomore Sadie Morris to load the bases with no outs. The Lady Panthers were only able to get one though, as an RBI groundout for Payne was followed up by a walk and back-to-back groundouts—sending the game into the bottom of the second with Apollo trailing 4-0.
Down 5-0 in the bottom of the third, the E-gals were finally able to get on the board—cutting it to 5-2 with an RBI single from sophomore Abby Miles and back-to-back errors scoring another. The Lady Panthers never slowed down though, scoring six more runs while Apollo got just one more en route to the 11-3 home district loss.
Freshman Sophia Cain handled the first 3 ⅓ innings and picked up the win, allowing one earned run—two total—on three hits and one walk while striking out a pair.
Senior Raylee Roby handled the last 3 ⅔ innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven to close out the win. Beckwith and Rowan led the Lady Panthers at the plate with a pair of RBIs each, while Smith, Newman, Daniels, Morris and Payne all had one each.
Daviess County advances to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in district play with the win, now looking to extend their winning streak to seven when they take on another district opponent—a rematch with Owensboro Catholic on the road at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25.
Apollo on the other hand falls to 7-8 and 1-3 in district play with the loss, snapping their four-game winning streak. Senior Emmie Bullington struggled in her start, allowing six earned runs—11 total—on 14 hits and four walks, while striking out one in five innings.
Freshman Taylor Clark handled the last two innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out one. The E-gals had three players record an RBI on Thursday, including Miles, freshman Ariana Ramirez and freshman Liza Paige.
Apollo will have a quick turnaround as well, taking a day off before wrapping up the week with a road matchup against Christian County on Saturday at 3 p.m.
