Union County Panthers vs Fannin County Rebels

Varsity Softball

August 29, 2017

Location: Blairsville, GA

The Lady Panthers Varsity team seems to slowly be breaking out of their beginning season slump.  With a 8-3 win yesterday against the Fannin County Rebels, the Panthers are now in the #4 spot in their 7-AAA Region.  

Current Region Standings: 1) East Hall 5-0, 2) North Hall 3-1, 3) Lumpkin County 3-2, 4) Union County 2-2, 5) Greater Atlanta Christian 2-3, 6) Dawson County 1-3, & 7) Fannin County 0-5.  

Panthers Pitcher #21 Jillian Lawn threw 7 innings; allotting for 7 strikeouts, 1 walk, 4 hits, and 3 errors.

Pictured: #21 Jillian Lawn

The Rebels were the first to cross the plate.  Their leadoff batter, #8 Galloway, landed a single just over the Panther’s third baseman.  After working her way around the diamond, she scored when their 4-hole hitter #4 Seabolt singled up the middle.  1-0 Rebels.

Ready to take back the lead, the Lady Panthers scored 2 runs off 3 singles in the bottom of the first. Responsible for these SNGs: #8 Katelynn Hodges, #00 Bailey Rayfield & #11 Aladriel Arnold.  According the stats on MaxPreps.com Panthers Hodges is currently ranked #3 on the ‘RBI Stat Leaders’ board for the 7-AAA Region.  B1: 2-1 Panthers.

Lawn shut the Rebels down in the second with a 1-2-3 inning.  

Panthers with hot bats put up 1 more run in the bottom second.  #27 Hannah Patton scored off an RBI SNG by #26 Maddie Sutton.  Sutton is also ranked on the ‘RBI Stat Leaders’ board at #5. Other hits in the inning: #2 Miranda Lockaby (SNG) & #8 Katelyn Hodges (SNG).

B2: 3-1 Panthers.

Pictured: #8 Katelynn Hodges

Lady Rebels shortened the lead by a run when Rebels #7 Johnson hit an RBI single. T3: 3-2 Panthers.

A SNG by #11 Aladriel Arnold put her in position to score and that’s just what she did when #14 Mary Wischmeyer hit an RBI SNG in the bottom of the fourth.  A hard DBL down the third base sideline by #26 Maddie Sutton put herself in a good position when #00 Bailey Rayfield came to the plate.  Rayfield with an RBI SNG to left field allowed Sutton to score, giving the Panthers a 5-2 lead.

Panthers defense with one late throw and an error later increased the score once again.  This would be the last run the Rebels would score for the game.  T5: 5-3 Panthers.

In the home stretch, the Panthers were explosive with consecutive hits!  #00 Rayfield started it off with a hard SNG to left-center.  Next, a hard DBL by #21 Jillian Lawn, an RBI line drive SNG by #11 Arnold, a RBI SNG by #18 Aubree Pack & to end the inning a hard DBL to left-center by #14 Wischmeyer!!!

Pictured: #14 Mary Wischmeyer

With victory in their hearts, they rushed to the outfield to wait for their end-of-game meeting and were greeted by their teammate Ellie Garrison.  Garrison broke her arm last Thursday during warmups, had surgery Friday morning & was able to get her cast removed yesterday!  Please continue to keep her and her family in your thoughts & prayers as we hope she makes a speedy recovery!  She’s one tough cookie & a sweetheart for attending games to cheer on her teammates.

Click to Enlarge Picture

The next game is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, August 31, 2017 @ 5PM against Greater Atlanta Christian at Home.  

Come out and support your Lady Panthers!

(Pictures taken by Jenni Dixon)