Daviess County’s Annie Newman’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning to mercy rule Owensboro 10-0, wrapped up district play in which the Lady Panthers outscored their 9th district opponents 67-0. According to sophomore starting pitcher Kamryn Timmons, Daviess County’s dominance and success stems from the close-knit bonds that have formed behind the scenes.
“I feel like that relationship, being that close with one another, is what contributes out on the field,” Timmons said. “We have fun at practice, we work hard, and then we do what we need to do.”
Timmons, who recently returned from a shoulder injury that sidelined her for the first few months of the season, was lights out against the Lady Devils – striking out the first eight batter she faced. After a quick 1-2-3 to start the game, the Lady Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Shelby Bennet singled home Sadie Morris. Daviess County added two more runs in the bottom of the second, thanks to an RBI triple by Briley Henry – later scoring on a wild pitch.
With one out in the top of the third, Owensboro’s Taylor Sowder singled to break up the perfect game and end the consecutive strikeout streak. Addison Hill attempted to bunt her to second and reached base on the throwing error to first. Facing her first jam of the night, Timmons struck out Alyssa Rhineburger on three straight pitches to end the threat.
The Lady Panthers added a run in the third, five in the fourth, and one in the fifth. Despite beating Owensboro earlier in the year, Daviess County head coach John Biggs knew his team was in for a tight contest with Alyssa Rhineburger starting against them.
“This was the first time we faced Alyssa this year, and the last time we saw her was in last year’s District Tournament,” Biggs said. “She does a nice job keeping you off balance with her pitches. I felt that she had pretty good command out there.”
Molly Hancock, C Smith, and Henry combined for four hits and six RBIs to power the offense, while K Clark, Newman, and Bennet each had two hits. Timmons threw a complete game shutout, with only three people reaching base.
For Owensboro, in addition to Sowders’s hit and Hill reaching on an error, B Criss drew a walk for the teams only other base runner. In the circle, Rhineburger allowed eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings, striking out two.
“We struggled to get anything going offensively,” Owensboro head coach Quincy Moorman said. “You aren’t going to win a lot of games when we get one hit and only three baserunners the entire game. We tried to play small ball to limit the strikeouts, but couldn’t get the bunts down when we needed. We still need to shore up some things defensively, and we’ll be fine. A couple of balls dropped in at crucial stretches of the game that allowed DC to extend its lead. It’s tough to overcome when you fall behind to a team like that.”
