After a strong opening that saw back-to-back wins against Johnson, the Lady Panthers softball team saw an up and down weekend at the Hawk/Bulldog Invitational before moving on to score their the win in their first region pairing of the season on Monday.
Jackson County is next slated to travel to Elbert County to face the Lady Blue Devils.
First pitch is slated for 5:55 p.m.
Coming off victories over the Knights last week, the Lady Panthers looked to carry some momentum into the Hawk/Bulldog Invitational last Wednesday.
Their first opponent was Peachtree Ridge, who came away with a 6-2 win over Jackson County. Thursday brought a pairing against the Broncos of Brookwood, who defeated the Lady Panthers 8-2.
It was more of the same on Friday, as Jackson County fell to Warner Robins 1-0.
Jackson County head coach Lisa Robinson said the team just didn’t show up offensively that night.
“We were not aggressive at the plate, and we struck out 12 times at the plate and didn’t find a way to get on base,” she said. “Defensively we played well with only one error in the game.”
The tide turned on Saturday morning, as the Lady Panthers took on the Lady Wildcats of Duluth. Jackson County came away with a 4-3 victory.
Haley Shinall struck out nine batters from the mound to pick up the win, and also went 2-3 at the plate with a double.
Freshman Victoria Fontana went 2-3 at the plate, as did junior Brooke Griggs.
“The girls hit the ball well and only had two strikeouts in the game,” Robinson said.
But the tournament would end on a down note for the team, as they lost their next two games on Saturday. They fell 8-1 to Flowery Branch and 13-0 to West Laurens.
“Haley Shinall started on the mound against Flowery Branch and we put in Drake Vissering in the fourth inning, and closed with Zoe Evans,” Robinson said. “In the game against West Laurens, Shinall simply ran out of gas, and we pulled her in the third and closed with Vissering again.
“The losses were disappointing and frustrating as we were preparing for our home opener on Monday.”
Next up was the Lady Panthers home opener, as well as their region opener, as they played host to the Bulldogs of Hart County on Monday. The Lady Panthers would pick up the win 5-0 over the Bulldogs.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
