Lady Mustangs fall in district semifinals 

CHILLICOTHE — Unable to get base runners across the plate, plus having a couple miscues, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs had their postseason run ended on Wednesday evening, falling in their Division VI SE District Semifinal game against the Peebles Lady Indians by a 7-2 score. 

Though couple calls on the field didn’t go in LC’s favor, the Lady Mustangs just couldn’t score runs where needed, and they didn't slow down the Lady Indians in the sixth inning. Peebles scored five of their seven runs in the top of the sixth, as all five were unearned runs that turned the 2-2 tied score into a 7-2 Peebles lead. 

This regular season, LCHS (9-3,14-7) defeated Peebles twice in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play by scores of 7-3 and 12-2 on April 21 and 22.  

“Peebles came out and played a good game,” LCHS head coach Brad Griffith said. “Bottom line is they hit better than we did tonight. They made it happen, and we didn’t. At the end of the day, Peebles out-hit us, and that’s what it boils down to.”

In all, Lynchburg-Clay finished with nine hits, while Peebles totaled six, but the Lady Mustangs also committed two errors in the loss, while Peebles had none. 

The score was tied at 2-2 after the first inning as Peebles (3-8, 7-13) was first to put runs on the board as Kendall Myers doubled with a hit to right field, and with two outs Kaelyn Musser hit a two-run home run over the centerfield wall for a 2-0 lead. 

Lynchburg-Clay answered those two runs with two of their own in the bottom of the first inning as Audrey Barry began the bottom of the first with a single, followed by Barry taking second, then she went to third base on a passed ball, Barry scored on a double hit to left field by Aubrey Roberts for a 2-1 score. 

With one out, the score was tied at 2-2 when Roberts — who reached third base — scored on a groundout hit by Noel Barnhill for an RBI. 

Then the two teams really went to battle as neither team scored runs from the second inning through the fifth inning, as both pitchers (Musser and Barnhill) and their defenses kept runs off the board … that was until the top of the sixth inning. 

Peebles in the top of the sixth had Amryn Carroll take first base on an error, followed by a single by Myers. Carroll took third base on a passed ball, with Myers reaching second. From there, Musser reached first base on an error, scoring Carroll from third as Peebles regained the lead at 3-2. 

Next was a double hit by Kendall Young, as the double scored Myers and Musser for a 5-2 lead over LCHS. 

That was followed by a double by Reese Davis, and the Peebles lead increased to 7-2 when Aleah Purcell doubled to centerfield, scoring Young and Davis, as the inning had an umpire discussion about whether a batter was out — but as the at-bat continued and the runs scored. 

Lynchburg-Clay in the final two innings had a double in the bottom of the sixth by Reese Ruble but she was left on the bases, and in the bottom of the seventh LCHS hit into a double play, as Kami Collins initially reached the bases with a lead-off single. 

After the two outs, Avery Blankenship hit a single with two outs, but the final out was recorded on a ground ball hit to second base. 

LCHS was led at the plate by Barry, who finished 3-for-4 with one run. Roberts finished 2-for-3 with a run and one RBI. Also with hits for LCHS were Sophia Michael (1-for-3), Ruble (1-for-2, HBP), Collins (1-for-3) and Blankenship (1-for-1).

Barnhill was charged with the pitching loss, as she pitched a complete seven innings. Barnhill allowed two earned runs on six hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts. Barnhill threw 118 pitches, 86 for strikes. 

“Noel pitched really well. We felt she had some more strikes, but we didn’t argue with it, and it was called even both sides and that’s all you can ask for,” Griffith said.

Musser was the winning pitcher for Peebles, allowing two earned runs on nine hits and no walks with four strikeouts in seven innings. She threw 85 pitches, 58 for strikes. 

Myers led Peebles at the plate by finishing 2-for-4 with two runs. 

BOX SCORE
PHS       200 005 0 — 7 6 0 
LCHS    200 000 0 — 2 9 2