HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
Brian Littleton doesn’t coach softball from game to game.
“Our job is just to get better every inning, every practice and every game,” Mason County’s coach said. “ … We go inning-to-inning – learning where to be where to be when the ball’s hit and how to catch it and how to throw it.”
The Lady Royals gave Littleton seven fruitful frames Monday – a 10-0 shutout of St. Patrick at Wald Park’s Blakefield-Owens Field.
Mason County (3-8 and 1-1 in the 39th District) won their second straight game (the Lady Royals defeated Calvary Christian, 9-2, on Saturday in Taylor Mill) – which is a lot nicer than seven straight losses.
“That felt good,” Lady Royals shortstop Kenzie Gulley said of the last two games. “I just kept my head up and kept going.”
Mason County unleashed a diversified attack from the plate and the circle.
There was extra-base power: Gulley, 2-for-4, with a double, a triple and three runs scored; catcher Allison Gibbs, 2-for-4 with a run-scoring double, a single and two runs; second baseman Shelby Thompson, two runs scored; third baseman Stevie Foley, an RBI double and a run; and left fielder Reese Hardeman added a double.
As for pitching, Mason County’s Marcella Gifford allowed just two hits and struck out seven. She also had a no-hitter going through the fourth.
St. Patrick fell to 3-4 and 1-1 in the district. It didn’t take Lady Saints coach Ronnie Clos long to diagnose the problem.
“You can’t catch the ball, you can’t hit the ball, you ain’t going to win the game,” Clos said. “ … The last four innings, five innings, we did a great job playing defense; the first two innings, we didn’t.”
Mason County opened with a three-spot. Gibbs’ double plated Gulley, Gibbs came home on a wild pitch, and Thompson scored on a passed ball.
The Lady Royals sent 11 batters to the plate in their five-run second inning. Gibbs’ run-scoring single, Foley’s double and winning pitcher Marcella Gifford’s sacrifice fly accounted for three of the tallies.
Gulley’s triple to right field opened the third; she scored on an error.
The Lady Saints broke up Gifford’s no hitter in the fifth on singles by Mercedes Hedgecock and Caroline Day.
Hardeman’s double opened the seventh. She scored on Alisha Applegate’s sacrifice fly.
“Everything’s gotten better,” Littleton said. “Even when our pitchers were throwing strikes, we weren’t making plays in the field at times. And now, it’s all coming together.”
Mason County hosts West Carter at 6 p.m. Tuesday. St. Patrick heads to Brooksville for a 5:30 p.m. Tuesday contest at Bracken County.
LADY ROYALS 10, LADY SAINTS 0
MASON COUNTY — 351 000 1 – 10-8-2
SAINT PATRICK — 000 000 0 – 0-2-4
2B — Gibbs (MC), Gulley (MC), Foley (MC), Hardeman (MC)
3B — Gulley (MC).
WP-Gifford. LP-Roush.
Records: Mason County 3-8, St. Patrick 3-4
