By: Will Jacobs
Last Saturday, the Plainview Lady Bears faced off against Buckhorn, Southside, and Madison County on their Senior Night. The Lady Bears would come out with three wins due to their outstanding offense.
The first game for Plainview came against the Buckhorn Lady Bucks. Kenzi Traylor took the pitching circle for Plainview to start the game, and she would not give up any runs in the first inning. Plainview’s offense would score five runs in the bottom of the first inning taking a 5-0 lead.
After finally getting three outs, Buckhorn came into the dugout to try to earn some runs back. However, they would fail to score, and the Lady Bears would continue to dominate on offense. They would score nine more runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 14-0 lead going into the third inning.
Traylor would not give up any runs in the top of the third inning, and Plainview came into the dugout looking to continue to score. The Lady Bears would score three more runs in the bottom of the third inning, and, due to the mercy rule, would defeat Buckhorn 17-0 after three innings. Traylor finished the game with three innings pitched and two strikeouts.
The next game for Plainview came against the Southside Lady Panthers. Plainview would be the visiting team in this game and would be the first to put runs on the board by taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Ava Jacobs would take the pitching circle for Plainview in the bottom of the first inning, and Southside would manage to earn back the two runs they had lost. After the first inning, the game was tied 2-2.
Plainview would fail to score in the top of the second inning, but Southside was not done scoring yet. They would score three more runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 5-2 lead over the Lady Bears going into the top of the third inning.
In the top of the third inning, Plainview would score two more runs to cut the lead to 5-4. Jacobs kept the Lady Panthers from scoring in the bottom of the third, and Plainview’s offense would again come back into the dugout looking to take the lead in the top of the fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, Plainview would only manage to score one run to tie the game up at 5-5. However, Jacobs would not give up any runs to the Lady Panthers in the bottom half of the inning.
After a scoreless fifth inning for both teams, Plainview would score in the top of the sixth inning to take a 6-5 lead. Southside would again fail to score in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Plainview came into the dugout looking to extend their lead in the last inning.
The top of the seventh inning was when the Lady Bears put the game out of reach. They would score five runs in the top of the inning to take an 11-5 lead over the Lady Panthers. Southside would fail to score in the bottom of the seventh inning, therefore giving Plainview an 11-5 victory. Jacobs finished the game with seven innings pitched and two strikeouts.
The last game for the Lady Bears was against the Madison County Lady Tigers. Both teams would get off to a slow start until the bottom of the third inning when Plainview scored eight runs to take an 8-0 lead.
Kenzi Traylor was pitching for the Lady Bears and had not given up a single run until the top of the fourth inning when she gave up two runs to the Lady Tigers cutting the Plainview lead to 8-2. Plainview would fail to score in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Madison County was unable to score in the top of the fifth inning, but Plainview would add one more run to take a 9-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Lady Tigers would score two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to shrink the Plainview lead to 9-4. Plainview would answer back in the bottom of the sixth inning by scoring one run to take a 10-4 lead.
Plainview would only give up one run in the top of the seventh inning to have their lead cut to 10-5, but after getting three outs, the Lady Bears would defeat Madison County 10-5. Traylor finished the game with seven innings pitched and four strikeouts.
After the game, the Lady Bears recognized their four Seniors. Amongst the group of seniors was Olivia Graham, Ava Jacobs, Bailey Smart, and Kennedi Traylor. These four Seniors have played major roles in the success that the Lady Bears have had this season. The next game for the Lady Bears is Thursday, May 3rd where they will host the Area Tournament, and they will face off against the North Sand Mountain Lady Bison at 2:30 in the first round of the tournament.