The Stone Memorial Lady Panthers put together one of their best games at the plate all season Monday night in Crossville against Algood Middle School.
However, it didn’t pay dividends as the black and gold dropped a hard-fought 4-3 decision to the visitors.
Stone picked up 11 hits, including three from Ella Tollett on the night.
“We couldn’t get the hits that we needed,” said Stone Coach Jake Beaty. “We’re 3-2 on the season right now. Besides last night, we let another one slip away earlier this year that we should have won.
“I am not fretting over being 3-2 on the year so far. That was a very good team that we played last night and they, I want to say, are 4-2 or 5-2 right now.”
The Lady Panthers drew first blood against Algood with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Ansley Boudreaux reached base and was brought around to score on a hit by Ella Tollett.
But, Algood came right back in the top of the second to score a run on Taylor Reed’s grounder.
Algood pushed its lead to 2-1 in the top of the third, thanks to an unfortunate error by Stone’s defense, one of only a few it has made this year.
Tollett came up big in the bottom of the inning with a single down the right field line to bring in a runner and tie the game at 2-2.
“One thing we’ve done so far this season is we’ve been very good at the plate,” Beaty said..
“We’ve been very disciplined at the plate, we’re not going after bad pitches. When we get two strikes on us, we’re taking a very good two-strike approach at the plate and shortening our swing. We’re trying to make sure we’re keeping ourselves alive and putting the ball in play.”
Algood came back with a two-run homer in the top of the fifth from Aeiress Parrish. The blast gave AMS a 4-2 advantage.
Emma Worsham took the loss in the circle for Stone. She went five innings, surrendering four runs, only three earned. She gave up five hits, three walks and nine strikeouts.
“Emma Worsham has been our No. 1 pitcher,” Beaty said. “I think she’s allowing just three runs a game this year. We’re very solid in the circle, and we’ve got two girls behind Emma that are very capable. We’ve got probably one of our strongest defenses we’ve every had.”
At the plate, Stone was solid. Tollett led the way with three hits. Bailey Ferguson had two.
Parrish got the win for Algood. She gave up three runs on 11 hits. She struck out three and walked none.
Stone Memorial, currently second in the district, will battle No. 1 White County on Monday, March 30. The game is set to start at 5 p.m.
“We had a few mistakes in our game with Algood and we’re working on correcting them,” Beaty said. “We had a girl get doubled up on a pop fly, and we got caught stealing.
“I told the girls after the game the good thing was that we played a good team and there was no need to put your heads down.”
SMMS regroups with win over Monterey
The Stone Memorial Middle School Lady Panthers got back on the winning track Tuesday night when they went on the road to Monterey. After losing a 4-3 heartbreaker to Algood the day before, Stone went on an offensive tear to roll to an easy 11-1 victory.
McKinslee England led the Stone offensive surge with two runs and three hits on the night. She also had one run batted in. Ansley Boudreaux had two hits, two RBI and three runs. Eva Worsham had two hits in three trips to the plate. She also had two RBI.
Worsham got the start in the circle for Stone. She went two one-third innings, giving up one run on one hit. She struck out six and walked none. England came in to close out the third inning. She gave up one hit and walked one batter. Jacey Johnson closed out the game for SMMS. She allowed no runs on no hits. She walked one and struck out two.