Daviess County’s state run came to an end after they fell short against Assumption in a close 2-0 quarterfinal game. Daviess County moved runners on base throughout the game, but Assumption’s defense held them to just 1 hit. Annie Newman was also named to the All-Tournament Team after the game.
Defense quickly took a hold on the game as it was three up and three down for both teams in back-to-back innings. The third inning saw Assumption take the lead with their first run. A line drive single put a runner on for Assumption, and a sacrifice bunt moved them up to second. The next batter grounded out, but the runner advanced to third. That runner managed to take home plate after a wild pitch. Lady Panthers head coach John Biggs said that mistakes like that are bound to happen despite the girls being solid all year. It was up to them to get those key hits in order to bounce back, he said.
“Those couple of miscues there when the ball gets away at home and they score the first run, but then we get the next girl out,” he said. “Those things are going to happen. Those kids have been solid all year, but again we’ve got to score some runs and come up with that key hit when we need it.”
Once again it was three up and three down for both teams in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth. Kamrynn Timmons led the defense on the mound, and she recorded 6 strikeouts while allowing 3 hits. The Lady Panthers held Assumption scoreless again for the fifth inning, but they struggled at the plate. They had runners reach scoring position in both the fourth and fifth innings, but they couldn’t find that key hit to bring them in. DCHS held a tight defense as Assumption also had moments where they put runners in dangerous positions. Biggs said Timmons fought through that adversity to keep the game close.
“I thought Kam was good on the mound,” he said. “She had to fight through some adversity. She had runners in scoring position multiple times with less than two outs. We were able to battle on defense with some pitches that she made that kept it just a 2-run ballgame. It could have been worse. Not too often we get shut out, but that happens some days. She did a good job of mixing things up and her locations.”
The sixth inning saw a couple of errors on DC’s side give way to Assumption’s second run. The Lady Panthers quickly got two outs with just one runner on base, but a ground ball to second forced the first error and allowed runners to reach first and third. A walk loaded the bases and put pressure on Daviess County. The next AB saw a ground ball hit towards third base, but an error on the play allowed the second run to score at home. A flyout secured the third out, but DCHS were now down 2-0 going into the final inning. The Lady Panthers shut down Assumption in the top of the inning, but it was three up and three down for Assumption in the bottom of the inning.
Biggs said they tried to adjust their placement of the ball late in the game as Assumption pulled in their first and third basemen. Overall, he felt the team battled and had some good hits, but their errors were their downfall.
“I thought we fought and really battled,” he said. “We hit some balls really hard right at them, and they just made some good plays on them. I thought we hit some really hard, but we had some miscues. That hurt us, but we have to put up more runs than 0. Late in the game we were just trying to get them to move a little bit. They were playing back on first and third, so we thought if we could get one down then we’d have a good opportunity to get on base.”
Daviess County was defeated 2-0 and eliminated from the tournament. They finished their season with an overall record of 29-7 and had an ongoing win streak of 12 before the quarterfinal. Making it this far into the postseason was a battle, Biggs said. He’s proud of the team and how the young squad kept their nerve in the high-stakes tournament. Most of them had observed from the bench in previous years, but they will be in the spotlight again next season as they will only be losing one senior in Makayla Rowan, he said. To get better as a team for next year, Biggs urged his team to work on themselves individually.
“They battled through some things and put themselves in the position to play in the state tournament,” he said. “Possibly with a couple more hits we’d be playing next week. That’s always the goal, but I’m proud of them. They showed a lot of character. I feel like we put a group of girls out there that represented us, the school, their parents and everybody involved.”
“We had kids where it was their first time playing in the state tournament,” he continued. “There were no ‘deer in the headlights’ moments, they were focused and locked in. That’s from observing and being on that bench and seeing how things go. I think they’re a better group, and like I told them, next year is a new year. Everybody’s got to leave here, get better and come back as a better ballplayer. If we all do that individually then we’ll come back better as a program.”
