CANNONSBURG – Mykayla Akers got the scoring started.

And then the floodgates opened.

The Ashland Blazer senior hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to put her team ahead of Lewis County and the Kittens followed with eight runs the next inning to run-rule the Lady Lions, 10-0, in the 16th Region quarterfinals on Saturday.

“It turned from one hit to two hits and then we could have gotten out of there possibly being down 4-0 or 5-0, but a misplay here and a misplay there and it turns into being eight runs in an inning,” said Lewis County coach Mike Diller. “It’s kind of showing our age a little bit. We lost our composure a little bit as a whole group – it wasn’t just one or two things – we lost our whole composure as a group, but we just let it get away from us.”

Ruthie Paholsky hit a one-out single to center in the top of the fourth for Ashland’s second hit of the day. She was replaced on the base path by Kendall Hilliard, but extra speed was not necessary. Akers hit the first pitch she saw over the wall in right-center to put the Kittens ahead, 2-0.

“We were finally going up with some confidence that we haven’t had for the past week and a half for whatever reason,” said Ashland coach Scott Ingram. “We’ve just been pressing and pressing and pressing at the plate and obviously Mykayla gets us on the board which kind of breaks the ice a little bit finally and it’s contagious.”

Lewis County got runners on base in each of the first three innings, but starting pitcher Haylie Haney was able to escape the jams.

The Lady Lions were in prime position to get the runs back in the bottom half of the fourth, however. Emily Cole singled to start the inning and Jessica Lawhun followed by grounding into a fielder’s choice. Emily Eldridge and Lexie Sizemore followed with walks to load the bases with one away.

Haney was pulled and replaced by Akers, who led the Kittens in a 9-3 victory over the Lady Lions earlier this month. She had 17 strikeouts in that game, and got another against the first batter she faced Saturday. She got the second to ground out to Maddy Greene at second to escape the inning without any damage being done.

“Haley did great – hot day and I think she ran out of gas a little bit and Mykayla comes in and obviously it’s a change of pace. Both of them did an outstanding job this evening,” said Ingram.

“Scoring first and then getting out of that jam I think kind of deflated them,” added Ingram. “They’re young, they’re going to learn from that and they’re going to be a heck of a ball team.”

Lewis County left nine runners on base in the contest.

“It was just one of those things where we got the runners on and couldn’t get the timely hit,” said Diller. “We get the timely hit, we go up 2-0 early. We had the bases loaded, we tie it up on that with a timely hit. It’s just the timely hit. We adjusted what we needed to in practice and today, we just didn’t get the timely hit.”

Lewis County pitcher Emily Cole got the first batter she faced in the fifth to ground out to Madison Liles at first, before Kaythan Baer singled up the middle. It was followed with a strikeout from Cole – her seventh of the game – before Ashland put together a two-out rally to put the game away.

Lauren Spears drove in the first run of the inning with a double and Zoe Ingram followed with an RBI-single to make it 4-0. An error followed and kept the inning alive, and the Kittens made the Lady Lions pay.

Akers, Kenzi Roinson and Haney hit back-to-back-to-back RBI-singles to make it 7-0 and Camryn Cassidy made it a fourth straight single for Ashland, with hers scoring two runs to make it 9-0. Baer tripled in her second at bat of the inning to clear the bases and make it 10-0.

Akers walked two batters in the bottom of the fifth, but recorded three strikeouts to end the 10-0 victory that moved the Kittens to 22-11 and into the 16th Region semifinals, where they’ll face Rowan County. The semifinal is scheduled to be played Monday at 5 p.m. Rowan County beat West Carter in the quarterfinals on Saturday, 10-1.

Akers allowed two walks and no hits in the game and recorded four of her five outs via strikeouts. Haney allowed three hits and four walks in 3.1 innings of work. She struck out five batters.

Cole took the loss for the Lady Lions. She allowed 11 hits and no walks in the game. She finished with eight strikeouts. Lewis County ends the season at 22-11. It’s the winningest season in program history. The team claimed the first 63rd District title in program history with a 12-9 victory in the championship game and Saturday marked the first time Lewis County has played in the 16th Region tournament since 2008.

“That’s what I reiterated to the girls down here in our huddle, is that this is now supposed to be our norm. It’s not sitting back and waiting on everybody to pound us or whatever. Now we’re expecting a district championship and expecting to come back here and compete every year for a regional title,” said Diller. “That’s what our expectations are here now.”

The Lady Lions graduate two seniors in Hailey Evans and Lexie Sizemore.

“We couldn’t have done any of this stuff without them. The leadership they showed, the enthusiasm they showed, the showing up and making sure everybody is here and making sure we’re all going through our drills the way we’re supposed to – they’ve led,” said Diller. “They’ve been great leaders.”

KITTENS 10, LADY LIONS 0 (5 INNINGS)

ASHLAND—-000-28X-X—-10-11-1

LEWIS COUNTY—-000-000-0—-0-3-1

2B: Spears (A)

3B: Baer (A)

HR: Akers

RBI: (LC) – None. (A) –Akers 3, Baer, Ingram, Spears, Robinson, Cassidy, Haney

LOB: Ashland 2, Lewis County 9

WP- Haney. LP- Cole.

Records: Ashland 22-11, Lewis County 22-11

Ashland Blazer’s Maddy Greene (left) attempts to turn a double play after getting Lewis County’s Emily Short (right) out at second base during the fourth inning of a 16th Region tournament quarterfinal game, Saturday, in Cannonsburg.
https://maysville-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1__DSC0770.jpgAshland Blazer’s Maddy Greene (left) attempts to turn a double play after getting Lewis County’s Emily Short (right) out at second base during the fourth inning of a 16th Region tournament quarterfinal game, Saturday, in Cannonsburg. Jared MacDonald, The Ledger Independent
Ashland uses big 5th inning to pull away from Lewis

Jared MacDonald

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