Adair County Softball saw its season come to a disappointing end Monday night in Campbellsville in the first round of the 20th District Tournament. Facing an imposing foe in No. 1-seeded Marion County (25-10), the Tribe (15-17) put forth a valiant effort that ultimately was not enough, losing 7-1.
The margin could have been worse. With pitcher Hallie Burton already sidelined with an injury, the Lady Indians lost their starting pitcher, Ellie Cheatham, in the top of the second inning. Leading off the second in the batter’s box, Cheatham took a first-pitch cut and then went down in pain, clutching her knee. Coaches eventually had to carry Cheatham off the field, and freshman left fielder Jade Waggener was called upon to pitch.
Against a team that scored almost 300 runs this season, the rookie performed well, allowing just three earned runs over the final five innings, striking out three, and only walking two. Unfortunately for Adair, errors in the field and a dominant performance from opposing pitcher Emma Sullivan erased any chance for the upset.
Emma Ellison — who accounted for two of Adair’s five hits — drove in Kayla Shepherd in the top of the third for the Lady Indians’ only run. That base knock tied the game, but Marion answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and two more the next frame to slam the door.
“I feel like we played good defense and our hitting just came up short,” Adair head coach Keith Brown said following the loss.
Following the contest, Waggener was selected as the team’s lone representative on the district’s all-tourney team. Shepherd earned all-academic honors, and both Ellison and Kaylee Campbell were named to the district’s all-season team.
Adair loses a lot of production from this year’s squad with Shepherd, Campbell, Ellison, and Carli Carter all set to graduate this week. All four were regular starters this season, and while Brown knows they’ll be hard to replace, he says the future is still bright for Adair Softball.
“Our goal this season was to win 20 games, and we won 15,” Brown said. “I felt like our girls played hard all season, and I’m very proud of them. We are losing four seniors from this team and they are going to be missed, but I’m excited about the years to come for this program. I feel like we will hit 20 wins next year.”
Visit The County Line’s Facebook page for more photos from the Lady Indians’ district effort.
