By LINDSEY WOOD

CV&T Reporter

Lindsey Wood and her dad, assistant coach Danny Wood, share an embrace as Montgomery County honors Estill County seniors during their senior ceremony. The Lady Engineers would later win this game, their sole victory of the week.

The Estill County High School softball team finally got a mercy-rule victory over Montgomery County coming out of a grueling five-game losing streak.

Estill’s losing streak began with a home loss to Boyle County. Estill played a good first four innings, Covey allowing just one run to score. Unfortunately, Boyle finally caught up with Covey in their fourth time through the lineup and racked up four runs in one inning. They capped it off by scoring three more in the fifth, to which the Lady Engineers were unable to answer, resulting in a mercy-rule loss. The team was facing their former teammate, Kelly Lay, on the mound. Three of her former classmates, seniors Sarah Wiseman, Lindsey Wood, and Lindsey Isfort did manage to each get a hit off of Lay, Wood’s hitting the fence.

Next, the Engineers faced another opponent from Boyle’s district, Garrard County. Estill beat them 5-0 at home in their last competition but could not repeat their success away. The Engineers and the Lions battled back and forth for five innings, neither team scoring a run. However, the pitcher’s duel would eventually come to an end in the sixth when Estill gave up three runs and failed to score any of their own. While disappointing, this game was not an ultimate failure; the Lady Engineers battled hard.

Estill continued their tour of the twelfth region, their next stop being East Jessamine, one of the best teams in the state featuring led by the best pitchers in the state. This game was the most dismal of Estill’s five-game losing streak: East Jessamine scored ten runs, with six total home runs! Mia Hale did manage to get the Engineers on the board with a solo home run.

Following this tough loss, the Engineers headed to a triangle in Rowan County, in which they faced both Rowan and Laurence County. Against Rowan, Estill got ahead 4-2 by the third inning but let off the gas, allowing Rowan to creep back. Rowan scored a run in the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning, allowing them to get the scrape by with the win. Despite the eventual loss, some Engineers had success at the plate; Hale and Wood each had three hits.

Against Lawrence, Estill was down 2-0 early but battled back, tying the game in the sixth. Kaylee Riddell led this comeback, with two RBI’s. However, Lawrence eventually pulled ahead and kept the lead. This game, and the match against Rowan, were both very winnable. Had the team won these games, they might have felt a little better about their rough week.

The Engineers finally broke their losing streak with a huge mercy-rule win against Montgomery County. It was Montgomery’s senior night, and Estill’s seniors were also honored at the beginning of the ceremony. The seniors lived up to this recognition by scoring nine of the Engineers’ eleven total runs. Wiseman had four RBI’s, Covey three, and Wood two.

Now that Estill has come out of their dry spell, they look to grab a few more wins before heading into the post-season, though they have a tough schedule ahead. Playing the best competition will help the Lady Engineers win the district and region tournament (both will be played on Estill’s home turf!) and look their best as they head to the state tournament in Owensboro.