PINEVILLE — South Laurel needed a win in the worst way to snap a three-game losing skid, and coach Carly Mink knew it wouldn’t come easy.
The Lady Cardinals traveled to play red-hot Pineville, and pitcher Rachel Howard, who entered Tuesday’s contest with a 22-inning scoreless streak.
South Laurel did just enough to get its 10th win of the season, rallying from a 4-3 deficit to score two runs in the final two innings to pick up a slim 5-4 win.
The Lady Cardinals managed to connect with 10 hits against Howard while scoring three earned runs despite Howard striking out 12 batters.
“Howard is one top pitchers in the region, every time we were able to put runners on, she was able to work out of trouble,” Mink said. “We had to be patient in our bats and was able to put together two runs late in the game to take the lead.
“This is a good win for us, with Howard pitching, Pineville will be a very dangerous team to play in a couple of weeks,” she added. “My team feels like we are never out of a game. We’re still young and have to stop getting in some of the early deficits that we get in, but we’re figuring it out.”
Emmie Rice belted another home run in the win for South Laurel while finishing with a hit, an RBI, and a run scored. Addison Baker, Madison Worley, and Skye Lawson each finished with two hits apiece while Amara Horn had a hit, and an RBI. Bailey Frazier finished with a hit while Morgan Jackson had a hit, and scored once.
Worley started the game, tossing four innings while allowing six hits, and four earned runs while striking out seven batters. Kenzie Williams came in relief, allowing no hits or runs while striking out nine of the 10 batters she faced.
Bailey Bargo-Vaughn hit a home run and finished with two RBI, and one run scored. Makenna Partin had two hits, and two RBI while Howard finished with a hit, and a run scored. Kenzie Widener also scored once.
