Lady Panthers beat Raiders to clinch share of OVC title
Published 2:32 am Friday, May 1, 2009
CHESHIRE — The Chesapeake Lady Panthers achieved once goal and kept another alive.
The Lady Panthers beat the River Valley Lady Raiders 12-1 on Thursday to clinch at least a share of the Ohio Valley Conference title. They also remained unbeaten in 18 games including 8-0 in the OVC.
“One of our goals was to win the league, so it’s nice to clinch at least a share of (the league title),” said Lady Panthers’ coach Aaron Rice.
“But we didn’t play well. We didn’t adjust offensively real well until the fifth inning.”
Chesapeake led just 1-0 heading into the fifth inning when it scored seven runs to blow the game open.
The Lady Panthers scored a run in the third inning when Allison Chapman reached on an error and scored on a double by Sarah Mayo.
In the fifth, Chapman walked, Nikki Lindsey singled and Mayo had a two-run double.
Sidney Boyle was safe on an error and Courtney Heffner had an RBi single. Hannah Henderson doubled for two more runs, Casey Kirk singled in a run, Chapman was hit by a pitch and an error scored the final run.
River Valley got a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Chesapeake got the run back in the sixth on a double by Boyle and Kirk’s two-out base hit.
The Lady Panthers capped the scoring with three runs in the seventh.
Sarah Rice singled, Chelsea Ridenour was safe on an error and Lindsey walked to load the bases.
Mayo singled in a run, Boyle reached on an error to score Ridenour and Casey Underwood grounded out to score the final run.
Chapman pitched a two-hitter for the win. She struck out 17 and did not walk a batter.
Mayo went 3-5 with two doubles and four RBI to lead the offense. Henderson and Kirk were 2-4.
Chesapeake hosts River Valley on Friday.
Chesapeake 001 071 3 = 12 11 0
River Valley 000 010 0 = 1 2 7
Allison Chapman and Courtney Heffner. Birchfield, Alexander (5) and Rose. W-Chapman (17-K, 0-BB). L-Birchfield (7-K, 5-BB). 2B-Chesapeake: Sarah Mayo 2, Sidney Boyle, Hannah Henderson; RV: Rose. Hitting-Chesapeake: Sarah Mayo 3-5, Nikki Lindsey 1-4, Sidney Boyle 1-5, Hannah Henderson 2-3, Courtney Heffner 1-4, Casey Kirk 2-4, Sarah Rice 1-1; River Valley: Porter 1-3, Rose 1-3.