By LINDSEY WOOD
CV&T Reporter
The Lady Engineers had two games rained out, but finally made it onto the field on Friday. At top right are seniors Kaylee Covey, Lindsey Wood, Lindsey Isfort, and Sarah Wiseman. In bottom photo, the seniors wear green ribbons in their hair in remembrance of their classmate Russell Morris III who died on March 24, 2018.
The Estill County High School softball team began their season 1-1 this past week, with an away 11-1 loss to Paul Lawrence Dunbar and an away 16-0 district win against Owsley.
The Lady Engineers fought the rain all week, canceling a couple scheduled games, but they would eventually make it onto the diamond this past Friday, taking on a tough and talented Dunbar team.
Starting the match, lead-off batter Lindsey Wood bunted for a base hit, stole second, and stole third on a wild pitch. Senior pitcher (and Lindsey Wilson softball commit) Kaylee Covey then attempted to drive her home, hitting a hard grounder to the shortstop; unfortunately, Wood hesitated and was thrown out at the plate and Covey was thrown out at second, completing an impressive double play for Dunbar. Senior catcher Sarah Wiseman would make the last out of the inning. This bout of mental mistakes at the start of the game took the wind out of Estill’s sails early.
Dunbar came ready to hit, and the Lady Engineers were not quite ready to field. Several errors by the Estill defense and a three-run homer and a grand slam by Dunbar’s clean-up hitter put the Engineers too far behind to catch up.
While this loss was discouraging for the team, they learned that little mistakes can turn into big losses. If the Engineers had made the routine plays and made better choices at the plate and on the bases, this would have been a much different ballgame.
The Lady Engineers’ luck would turn as they took on district competitor, Owsley County. Estill made light work of the Owls both at the plate and in the circle. Kaylee Riddell and Kaylee Covey both knocked it over the fence, marking the first of hopefully many home runs of this season and the Engineer lineup combined to score 16 runs in four innings. On the mound, Kaylee Covey got a shut-out win, allowing only two hits. The Engineers mercy-ruled Owsley after four innings.
Through the rest of the week, the Lady Engineers will take on George Rogers Clark at home this Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Lincoln County away this Thursday at 6 p.m.