The Pike County Central Lady Hawks jumped ahead in the 3rd inning and never relinquished their lead as they defeated the Belfry Lady Pirates, 4-1, in the 2A Softball Regional Championship at Floyd Central.
Emalie Tackett started the scoring a single to right field, scoring Taylee Wood and Hannah May for a 2-0 lead. Belfry cut the lead in half when Natalie Fite doubled to center field to bring home Myra Bevins to make it a 2-1 game.
The Lady Hawks stretched their lead to 3-1 in the top of the 6th inning when Liv Sanders scored on May’s sacrifice. The final score came in the top of the 7th inning when Sanders was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Jaycie Stanley.
Tackett led the Lady Hawks at the plate, batting 3-of-3 with a double, 3 stolen bases and 2 RBI. Stanley, Kaiden Hess and Abby Hess each had hits for Pike County Central.
Chloe Hannah earned the win for the Lady Hawks, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits with 12 strikeouts.
Hannah and Tackett were named the Mingua Beef Jerky Co-Players of the Game for their efforts.
Fite led the Lady Pirates went 2-of-2 with a double and 1 RBI. Bevins, Molly Fahm and Makaylin Meade each had a hit.
Fahm got loss, allowing only 3 earned runs on 6 hits while recording 4 strikeouts.
Pike County Central is scheduled to play Logan on Friday. Belfry will play at Tolsia on Tuesday.
