In a season to remember this fall, the Logan County Middle School softball team finished with a 19-5 record and for the most part dominated opponents.
One of the wins was a forfeit. In the 18 wins of games played, the Lady Cougars outscored the teams they beat 170-34, an average of 9.5 to 2.0. In the five losses, Logan was beaten 35-18. The total run production, then, was 188-69 in 23 games.
The first six wins were reported on The LoJo in August and can be read at http://www.theloganjournal.com/Stories.aspx?Article=sports535 .
The next game was a loss. Visiting Allen County-Scottsville came to LCHS and won 12-4. The four Logan runs scored in the second inning. Jillian McLellan and Sydney Lee led off with singles, Blayke Bingham reached on a fielder’s choice that didn’t result in an out, and Hannah Cron reached on an error. They all scored. The only other hits for the home team came from Sara Beth Hale and Brea Croslin. Mary Pruitt and Jema Alexander each scored twice in an 11-run third inning for the Lady Patriots. Morgan Means, who scored in that inning, added the 12th run in the fourth.
Logan bounced back to take the second game of that doubleheader 7-5. Three runs scored in the third when Hale reached on an error, Page singled and Croslin doubled them in, Kennedy Nichols sacrificed, and McLellan and Bingham each singled. Page and Bingham each had two hits in the game. Rosie Kerchenski also had a hit.
Logan then won the Clash of the Middle School Lady Cats 14-0 and 12-2 at Russellville. Deuces were wild for Vanzant in the first game. She had two each of hits, RBIs and runs while also walking. Page tripled, singled, scored two runs and added an RBI. Croslin doubled, singled, scored two runs and added an RBI. Nichols doubled, scored twice and had an RBI. McLellan tripled, walked, scored and reached on an error. Hale walked, reached on an error and scored. Kerchenski walked three times, scoring once. Lee singled, reached on an error and scored. Bingham walked twice and scored.
Hale pitched a one-hitter. That hit came on a final-inning double by Brooklyn Ray. The Lady Panthers threatened to score in the second when Halle York walked and Chloe Whitescarver also walked with two outs, but Hale induced a comebacker to the mound to end the threat. Pitcher Tonisha Gray worked a walk in the first inning.
Abby Hinton and Shelby Gettings combined to pitch the win for Logan in the nightcap. McLellan and Lee scored twice each. Lee tripled, McLellan got two hits and a walk, and Lilly Newman, Page, Croslin and Bingham singled for the Lady Cougars’ hits off Gray. Logan worked 11 walks.
Hanna Alford and Amiyah Collier scored the runs for Coach Ryan Davenport’s Lady Panthers. With one out in the final inning, Alford singled, Collier walked and Gray was hit by a pitch. After another out, Tonisha Hampton singled them both in. The only other baserunner for RMS was Addie Mosier, who walked in the second.
Also playing in the doubleheader for Russellville were Elly Myers, Tamera Baskerville, Jaylah Kees and Mason.
The Lady Cougars split a doubleheader with visiting Butler County. The Lady Bears won the first game 7-5. Vanzant singled, walked twice, stole two bases, and scored a run. Page stroked an RBI triple. Croslin and Nichols each singled and scored, Bingham had a hit, Hale reached on an error and scored, and McLellan got an RBI on a walk.
The Lady Cougars, who are coached by Julie and Jeff Belcher, won the second game 7-0. In the first inning, Vanzant walked, Page singled, and Nichols doubled them in. Hinton walked and scored in the second. Then in the third, Nichols singled, McLellan walked, Kerchenski was hit by a pitch, and Hinton blasted a bases-clearing triple. She scored the final run on Gettings’ hit.
The only team to sweep Logan was University Heights Academy on Sept. 4 in Hopkinsville. The first game went 9-6. Croslin had two hits and scored on both. Page also had a pair of hits and scored once. McLellan got two hits, one of them for an RBI. Bingham doubled, was hit by a pitch and scored. Vanzant walked and scored, and Cron reached on an error and scored. Nichols got an RBI on a groundout. Lee walked twice.
The second game was a 5-2 loss. The two runs scored in the final inning. After Vanzant reached, Croslin singled her in, and Nichols drove in Croslin on a single. Lee walked, but she and Nichols were stranded. Nichols’ hit was her second. Kerchenski also singled in the game and pitcher Hinton walked.
Russellville and Logan met again in a single game two days later. Croslin and Vanzant each had two hits while Hale, McLellan, Bingham, Page and Cron each got one. Hale also walked. Lee reached on an error and scored.
Hampton got the only Lady Panther hit off Lee. Gray walked twice, and Ray and York worked walks.
A close, exciting game resulted in a 2-1 win at Franklin-Simpson. Logan’s runs scored in the second inning. Croslin led off with a double and Nichols singled her in. After two outs, Bingham got a clutch hit to drive in Nichols with what proved to be the winning run. Page and Hale had back-to-back hits in the third, but they were stranded. Those were all the hits the Lady Cougars managed, but Lee and reliever Hinton held the Lady Cats to a single run. Franklin threatened to score in the fifth, but Hinton got a called strikeout and a popout to Page at second to end the game.
Logan won the second game 10-8. Vanzant, Page and Croslin each scored two runs. In the second inning, Hinton was hit by a pitch, Lee walked and Kerchenski doubled them both in. Newman walked, Vanzant singled, Hale reached on an error and Croslin on a fielder’s choice, and Nichols got on via fly ball to left field. Seven runs scored. The Lady Cats scored five runs in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t get all the way back.
With Lee pitching well, the Lady Cougars beat Butler County 3-1. A run came in the first inning when Croslin singled with two outs, and Nichols doubled her in. The other two runs scored in the fifth inning. Vanzant led off with a single. After an out, Croslin singled her in. Nichols added an insurance run.
Logan split a doubleheader with Franklin-Simpson. F-S won the opener 2-1. Page scored her team’s lone run in the fourth inning, thanks to a hit by Croslin, who was on base twice.
The Lady Cougars won the second game 8-1. Gettings, McLellan, Hale, Page, Croslin and Nichols also scored in the second inning. Nichols and Kerchenski scored the other two runs in the fourth.