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Playing a strong all-around game, the Parry McCluer High School softball team earned a 10-9 road win over Pioneer District leader Covington on Tuesday of last week.
With the win, the Fighting Blues (7-5 overall, 3-2 district), who were coming off a 9-2 home loss to Nelson County the day before, avenged an 11-3 home loss to Covington on March 30.
Reflecting on the victory, PM head coach Troy Clark said, “This was our best game of the season.”
Last year, after splitting the regularseason series, Covington won the district title by beating PM 7-6 in nine innings in the Pioneer District finals.
The Blues led off with singles by Payton Emore and Logan Vest, and Emore scored on a passed ball to give PM a 1-0 lead.
Covington, which ended the week at 8-8 overall and 4-1 in the district, answered back in the bottom of the first when Kayla Bartley scored on a single by Addison Morris to tie the game 1-1.
The Cougars scored two more runs on the second, with two hits and a sacrifice fly, to go up 3-1.
In the top of the third, Vest led off with a walk, Autumn Mundy singled, and Claudia Coleman’s hit brought home Vest to cut Covington’s lead to 3-2.
The Cougars responded with a run in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 4-2, and they scored two more runs in the fourth on a double by Tyra Rose to make it 6-2.
In the top of the fifth, Emore and Vest singled, and Mundy hit a double on a line drive to left field, driving in Emore. Coleman then tripled on a line drive to center field to bring home two runs, and Coleman scored on a single by Gracey Shafer to tie the game at 6-6.
The Blues loaded the bases in the sixth, Coleman hit a two-run single, Shafer singled to drive in Olivia Julian, and Victoria Hamilton singled to bring in Coleman, giving PM a 10-5 lead.
Covington scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 10-9, but Coleman recorded a save by retiring the three batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh.
Vest led the Blues with four hits, and Mundy added three hits. Emore, Shafer and Hamilton each recorded two hits, and Coleman had two hits and five RBIs.
Julian was the starting pitcher for PM, and Coleman pitched in relief. Clark said the pair “pitched a good game.”
Covington’s pitcher, Bartley, had given the Blues trouble in their first meeting this season. Clark said Bartley “is a very good pitcher, and we were a lot more relaxed at the plate than we were the first time we played them. We put some hits together in the fifth and sixth innings. We got the key hits when we needed them.”
“We also played well defensively,” added Clark. “I am so proud of these girls and the way they played,” added Clark. “It was a great team effort.”
NC 9, PM 2
The Blues suffered a 9-2 home loss to Nelson County in nondistrict action on Monday of last week in Buena Vista.
Nelson, which ended the week at 7-6, got off to a strong start, scoring two runs in the first and racking up six runs in the fourth on two hits, a walk and four errors.
PM scored two runs in the fourth when Mundy tripled to bring home Emore and McKenna Hickman.
The Blues were scheduled to play at Rockbridge County on Monday before playing host to Eastern Montgomery on Tuesday. They’ll play at Nelson County on Friday at 7 p.m. before concluding the regular season with a home game against district rival Craig County on Monday at 5 p.m.
