NEW MARKET — After a thrilling opening round game which saw Southmont softball defeat Parke Heritage 8-6 after scroing all of thier runs in the final two innings, the Mounties on Tuesday took on the North Putnam Cougars in the Class 2A Sectional 44 semi-finals. The high powered Cougar offense proved to be too much for the Mounties. South saw its season come to an end with a 16-2 loss as the Cougars advanced to the championship game.
“North Put is a really good team first and foremost,” Southmont coach Dan Taylor said. “They were the better team and they showed it. When you have three college players in that senior class, we knew that it was going to be an uphill battle. We tried a couple of different things to throw their timing off but they just have so many weapons. We could still play some of our best softball and probably still lose to them. W ehave the greatest respect for their program and wish them the best in the championship game.”
The Mounties went with Haley Scott on the mound as Taylor mentioned to tty and throw off the Cougar’s timing. After the first few innings to try and mix things up the Mounties then went to their ace in sophomore Kyndale Rice. However the first batter that Rice faced, she was hit with screamer right in the knee and thigh area and was forced to exit the game. With that Scott finished the gmae for Southmont.
South got their two runs off a two-RBI single from Anna Stokes.
With the loss the Mounties had to say goodbye to four of their seniors in Chelsea Veatch, Dara Watason, Kali Todd, and Brady Spencer. The four missed their first season of high school softball due to COVID back in 2020, but in their three seasons had winning record of 39-33.
“These girls has to really step up as leaders this season with what we lost from a year ago,” Taylor said. “They all did a great of really bringing our younger players along because they knew that some of those young girls are really talented. This team was very close team because of the leadership of those four. We improved so much from where we were at the beginning of this season and for us to be in this position to even play for a spot in the sectional championship proves just how far we’ve come.”
The Mounties while they do lose those four seniors, will return a lot od key pieces for next season. Four of the top five hitters from this team return nesxt season. The Mounties finish their 2023 season with a record of 9-17 but the future is looking up for Southmont.
