Floyd Central celebration

Floyd Central’s Elise Coleman prepares to be mobbed by teammates after clubbing a two-run home run against Lanesville’s Morgan Sonner during the Class 4A No. 11 Lady Highlanders’ 8-2 victory over the Class 1A No. 6 Lady Eagles last Monday.

 Photo by Brandon Miniard

As the final week of the regular season got underway last Monday, both Lanesville and Floyd Central traded in their typical home and away colors for different shades of pink for their annual Strike Out Cancer Game.

Schickel Field in Lanesville served as the site between the pair of locally ranked squads: the Lady Eagles (No. 6 in Class 1A) and the Lady Highlanders (No. 11 in 4A). The Lady Eagles came into the contest after dropping a pair of tight contests in Kentucky against Elizabethtown (1-0) and Sacred Heart (8-6).

The Lady Highlanders also found themselves across the river during the previous weekend, dropping both games of a round robin against nationally-ranked powerhouses No. 4 Indianapolis Roncalli (7-2) and No. 15 Louisville Ballard (5-2).

While the Lady Eagles managed to keep pace with their visitors halfway through the contest, the Lady Highlanders capitalized on a few late miscues to push their way to an 8-2 final.

The visitors struck the first blow in the opening frame after Addy Ware beat out a lead-off infield single followed by a base knock from Peyton Drummond. After a Kylie Franks ground out moved both runners into scoring position, Taylor Chumbley brought Ware home on an RBI groundout to third for an early 1-0 lead. They added on in the top of the second when Emory Waterbury reached on a lead-off single. With two outs, Elise Coleman took an 0-2 pitch over the center-field fence for a two-run homer to expand the lead to 3-0.

The Lady Eagles broke through against Waterbury in the bottom of the third when Quinlynn Cunningham drew a one-out walk before Izzy Rawlings clubbed a line drive to center for an RBI double, her second two-bagger of the day. After advancing to third on an attempt to throw out Cunningham at the plate, Rawlings trotted home on an RBI groundout from Sonner to cut the deficit to 3-2.

After a scoreless fourth inning for both sides, the Lady Highlanders got moving in the top of the fifth when Ware reached on a lead-off single before advancing to second on a Drummond grounder. Franks found real estate in right field directly in front of the Lady Eagles’ Makenna Mills, who bobbled the short hop to allow Ware to score. With Franks on third, Chumbley brought her home on a sacrifice fly to grow the visitors’ edge to 5-2.

The Lady Highlanders rubbed salt on the Lady Eagles’ wounds in the bottom of the sixth, beginning when Maddie Luckhardt reached on an error by Lauryn Safstrom before moving to second on a Taylor Middleton grounder. Coleman laced an RBI single before Ware hit a ball to left field that was misplayed by Brooklyn Albers that allowed Ware to motor all the way to third. That set up another sac fly, this time courtesy of Drummond, to reach the final outcome of 8-2.

Waterbury took the win in the circle for the Lady Highlanders after allowing two earned runs on six hits during four innings of work. Sonner was pinned with the loss after allowing eight runs, four of which were earned, on 10 hits in 5-1/3 innings.

Chumbley and Coleman each led the Lady Highlanders in terms of run production as they each drove in a pair of RBIs, while Ware went 4 for 4 with an RBI and three runs scored. Rawlings led the way for the Lady Eagles with a pair of doubles, while she and Sonner were responsible for driving in the hosts’ pair of runs. Albers and catcher Ellie Schneider joined Rawlings with two hits apiece.

Lanesville began post-season play yesterday (Tuesday) when the Lady Eagles traveled to West Washington to face Rock Creek Community Academy in the opening round of sectional. The winner of that matchup will face the host and 10th-ranked Lady Senators in the semifinal today for a 7 p.m. first pitch.

The Lady Highlanders, meanwhile, awaited the winner of Class 4A No. 6 Bedford North Lawrence and Seymour in the semifinal of the Bedford Sectional yesterday. The winner will advance to tomorrow’s championship game at 6:30 p.m.

Floyd Central 1 2 0 0 2 3 0 8 11 0

Lanesville 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 7 3

WP: Waterbury (FC) (14-5); LP: Sonner (L) (13-2); 2B: Rawlings 2 (L); HR: Coleman (FC).