New Market – There was no shortness of excitement at Southmont on Thursday night.
Fountain Central scored in every inning and was able to stave off Southmont’s late rally in a 16-14 softball win.
The Mustangs took an 11-0 lead in the last half of the fifth, needing just a single out to end the game. But, an error opened the door and Southmont scored four runs to make it 11-4 and extend the game.
Fountain Central (2-4) added four in the sixth, but the Mounties (1-5) plated seven in the bottom of the sixth, behind hits from Kalli Todd and Catie Himes and a pair of hits each in the inning from Brady Spencer and Mallory Mason.
Fountain Central took a 16-11 lead into Southmont’s final at-bat, and a two-run home run from Chelsea Veatch kept things interesting, but Kacey Kirkpatrick and the Mustangs eventually shut the door and secured the win.
“Kacey pitched well,” Fountain Central coach Ric Walke said. “We should have gotten her out of here with less pitches, but it is what it is at this point. We get to walk out of here with a victory over a very good program and we have to be happy with that.”
Southmont struggled out of the gate, both in the field and at the plate.
“That was really the worst defense I’ve ever seen here,” Southmont coach Dan Taylor said. “We made nine errors in the first three innings. They were spread evenly over various players. And addition to that we had trouble fielding the ball and threw it around a little bit. Didn’t act like we knew where to go with the ball. So obviously from a coaching standpoint, very disappointed.”
Fountain Central scored a run in the first and then plated three runs in each of the next three innings. The Mustangs had 13 hits in the win, including three from Kearney Foxworthy-DeJournett and two from Zoe Foxworthy-DeJournett. Kirkpatrick and Zoe Foxworthy-DeJournett each had home runs to lead off innings. Audree Brown had a hit and drove in four runs, while Sami Krout was 2-2 with a pair of doubles.
“I told them, I’m not sure the last time we scored in every inning of a seven-inning game,” Walke said. “There’s a lot of positives to take out of it, and there’s a lot of work to do. The confidence that some of the girls who had been struggling should have. They got to see a lot of pitches, put some balls in play.”
Kirkpatrick kept the Mountie hitters off balance through the first four innings, allowing just two hits, and recording four strikeouts.
“I thought Kirkpatrick did a nice job of making us chase and throwing some chase pitches,” Taylor said. “We got a little bit more disciplined as the game went along, and then once we started hitting, it was very encouraging.”
Southmont’s bats didn’t cool off once they heated up. Jenna Grino, Mason, and Spencer each had three hits for the Mounties.
“As unhappy as we were early, I was really proud of the girls to not give up, and to fight back,” Taylor said. “Really our best hitting game.”
Southmont hosts Clinton Prairie tonight, while Fountain Central is at Faith Christian.
