PORTSMOUTH — The Clay Lady Panthers’ senior class made the most of their final game at Carol Vice Memorial Field.
Clay defeated visiting Green 15-0 in five innings in Wednesday’s Division IV sectional final — capturing the program’s 41st sectional title and subsequent spot in next week’s D-IV district tournament.
The Lady Panthers (14-7) combined for 18 hits in their 15-run performance — as head coach Jason Gearheart called their best performance at the plate to this point in the season.
“That’s probably the best we’ve hit this year. Green’s a great team and Shane (Jenkins) has done an awesome job with them. When we were in the cage before the game, I could tell it was going to be an awesome day at the plate,” Gearheart said. “We put it all together today.”
Six different Clay hitters had a multi-hit day in the victory, including senior Jacy Gearheart and Kailey Ware who were a perfect 4-of-4 at the plate.
Seniors Jordyn Mathias and Preslee Lutz both had a pair of hits and drove in three runs apiece, freshman Lynsey Loop had two hits and two RBI, and senior Kyleigh Oliver had two hits and scored two runs.
Senior Adrianna McCoy had a two-run home run in her pinch-hit appearance in the fourth inning, a two-run towering blast to left field that helped give the Lady Panthers some additional insurance.
Lutz earned the win in the circle and faced one over the minimum in her no-hit bid — striking out 12 Green batters and issuing no walks as the lone Lady Bobcat runner to reach was via Clay error.
“She (Lutz) wasn’t hurting today — that was the fastest I’ve seen her throw since she was in 8th grade. She was bringing it today. Our seniors — Kyleigh, Kailey, Jacy, Jordyn, Preslee, and Adrianna all hit the ball very well in their last game here. Really proud of them and I couldn’t be happier with how they performed,” Gearheart said.
Clay, as the No. 2-seed in the Southeast District in Division IV, will face No. 7-seed Waterford in the Rio Grande No. 1 district semifinals on Wednesday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Rio Grande.
“Continue to have great practices and focus on our fundamentals. Since our second game with Notre Dame, they taught us some things we needed to work on. Change positions like we do every year — think we’ve got it right. Keep practicing hard, taking good swings. We’re excited to get back to the district tournament and play someone new in that environment, great facilities at Rio Grande.”
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BOX SCORE
Green 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 3
Clay 5 3 2 5 X — 15 18 1
Clay hitting
Kyleigh Oliver 2-4, 2R
Jacy Gearheart 4-4, 4R
Shea Edgington 1-3, 2R, RBI
Jordyn Mathias 2-2, 2R, 3RBI
Kailey Ware 4-4, 2R, 2RBI
Katie Fife 0-1, R
Lynsey Loop 2-4, 2RBI
Preslee Lutz 2-4, R, 3RBI
Adrianna McCoy 1-1, R, 2RBI, HR
Pitching
Gracie Daniels (G) 4IP, 18H, 1BB, 9ER, 2K (L)
Preslee Lutz (C) 5IP, 0H, 0BB, 0ER, 12K (W)
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