Lady Cougars nab two wins despite rainy conditions

Unlike many area teams, the Lady Cougars were able to work in three games over the past week, despite the rainy conditions.

Tuesday afternoon, the girls came away with a thrilling 15-14 win over Riverside in Rector. There was too much softball for the usual seven innings, as the two teams needed an addition two frames to determine a winner.

Rebecca Dodd hit a clutch double in the bottom of the ninth to score Rachel Dowdy from second to knot the game up at 14-14. Amanda Bradford put the game to bed, hitting the walk-off double to score Dodd and pick up the win.

"It was the best game I've ever been involved with," Rector skipper Bob Alberson. "It was exciting. We just refused to lose, and kept going at it until we got the win. That's the kind of win that really defines a team."

The Lady Cougar bats came alive in the game, as the squad notched a total of 15 hits.

Bradford was solid on the mound, working all nine innings. She struck out five while walking three and allowing 12 hits.

"Bradford pitched well," Alberson said. "She threw a lot of strikes. She never panicked, just played well. We just made some mistakes out in the field that didn't do us any favors. But we're a young team. You expect that to happen. I think we're getting better every time we go out there."

Dodd was a perfect 3-3 at the plate, notching a triple and double with 3 RBIs, a walk and four runs scored. Bradford finished 2-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Also hitting for Rector were Brittany Sharp 4-5 with 2 runs, Kaitlyn Essman 3-4 with an RBI and 2 runs, Stephanie DeMent 2-5 with 3 runs and Rhoda Classen 1-3 with a run scored.

Gosnell Loss

The Lady Cougars were downed, 9-6, Monday at Gosnell.

The hosts took advantage of a shaky start by Rector to build a large lead early.

"We came out a little nervous," Alberson said. "We made some mistakes, and just had a hard time settling down early."

Freshman Kelly Fowler took the loss for Rector, striking out five while allowing five hits and walking two in seven innings.

"Once Fowler settled down, she found her rhythm and Gosnell didn't do much for the rest of the game," Alberson said. "We gave them too many on errors, but I thought we did a good job of coming back and making it a game."

DeMent led Rector at the plate, finishing 3-4 with two runs scored. Also hitting were Dodd 2-3 with 2 runs, Sharp 1-4 with a 2 RBI double and Classen 1-4.

Brookland Win

The Lady Cougars posted an 11-6 win over Brookland Thursday in Rector.

Rector fell behind 2-0 heading into the bottom of the third, but came back three runs in the frame to claim a lead they never relinquished.

Bradford got the start, working six and two-thirds innings, striking out six and walking three. Fowler, a freshman, got some time on the mound at the end, allowing three runs with a strikeout and three walks.

Sharp, who has been stellar at the plate as of late, led the Rector batters by going 3-3 with 3 RBIs. Also hitting safely were Bradford 3-4 with two runs scored, Dodd 2-3 with three runs, Fowler 1-3 with 2 runs, Taryn Tracy 1-3 with an RBI and run and Dowdy 1-3 with a run.

The Lady Cougars are set to visit Lepanto Thursday to face host East Poinsett County. Rector will head to Brookland on Friday before enjoying next week off for spring break. The Lady Cougars will resume play at Riverside on March 29.