Game one saw the Lady Cats take on the West Howard County Riverbats and the ladies systematically tore the wings off the bats for a final score of 24-1. Every Cat reached base safely at least once in the contest against a Riverbat pitcher who allowed nine hits, walked twelve and hit another.� Hitting stars were Kelly and Brittany who each had two hits. Brittany torched a pitch on her final at bat for a long triple, she also collected 4 RBI in the game to add to her total.� Bree and Megan K. each took the circle and combined to deliver a no-hitter for the Cats but the game was finally called in the third inning due to the slaughter rule.
Game two had the Cats pitted against a very tough and much older Arbutus Fireball team. The game remained close at 3-1, favor of the Fireballs, until the fourth inning when a few questionable calls by the umpire crew kept the Fireballs in the inning and allowed them to score 4 runs which seemed to break the Cat's backs. One of the questionable calls remained despite Brittany showing the umpire the cleat mark on her knee inside her shin-guard as she blocked the plate while taking a beautiful throw from Mel in centerfield. Unfortunately her lobbying and that of the upset Panther coaches and parents fell upon deaf ears. The ladies played tough in the early part of the game however, as they managed ten hits off a very good Arbutus pitcher. Hitting stars were Mel with three hits and two RBI and Megan K. with two hits. Jelly was in the circle and took the loss, but pitched a very good game. Unfortunately the Cat defense had a few breakdowns late in the game with some fielding mistakes and throwing errors and the Fireball hitters and base runners exploited these mistakes for a 10-2 rout of the Lady Cats.
The Cats trouncing of the Riverbats no doubt helped them to attain the third seeding, but the heavy rains on Sunday suspended the remaining games leaving the Cats to wonder what might have been.
Next up for the Panthers is the Summer Ending Finale tournament, which will be held in Chambersburg Pa. the weekend of August 7th & 8th. Good luck Lady Cats!
