Lady Panthers improve to 10-5
Harper pitches shut outs over Dawson and Rabun
By TODD FORREST Sentinel Writer

April Harper pitched backto back shutouts to lead the Lady Panthers Softball to their ninth and tenth victories of the season over sub-region opponents Dawson County and Rabun County. The Lady Panthers are entering the heart of the sub-region schedule with games at Banks County on Thursday, at home against Fannin on Tuesday, and then the rematch with East Jackson next Thursday, here in Blairsville. When it comes to determining first place in the sub-region, Union County controls their own destiny and Coach Stewart believes her team is beginning to come together at the right time. "As far as the sub-region goes, we are where we need to be, as long as we beat East Jackson by at least two runs."

In Union County's 8-0 win over Dawson County, Harper struck out ten and allowed just two hits in seven innings of work. The shutout was her fourth of the season as she improved her record to 6-3 for the year. Offensively Ashley Beltnick had three hits and scored twice. Brooklyn Swartz and Brittany Massey-Lentz also added two runs each. Kayla Gowder drove in three runs and Sullivan drove in two.

The scoring began in the bottom of the third inning when Gowder drove in Swartz and Lentz with a two out double. Harper then helped herself out with an RBI double to score Gowder. Union County broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth when Kaley Sullivan singled in Beltnick and Swartz. Gowder added another RBI when she knocked in Lentz to give the Lady Panthers a 6-0 lead after four innings. Beltnick added an insurance run in the fifth and Tori Dyer added another in the sixth when she scored on Mason's base hit.

The Lady Panther bats picked up where they left off against Dawson, when they traveled to Clayton to take on Rabun County on a wet and rainy evening. With ace April Harper pitching another gem, Rabun never threatened and Union County picked up their tenth win of the season 10-0 over Rabun. Harper pitched her second shutout in as many games, striking out ten and allowing only one hit. The shutout victory improved Harper to 7-3 on the season with five of those wins coming in the form of a shutout. Union got all the offense they would need in the top of the first when Sullivan knocked in Kaitlyn Seabolt with a one out single. The Lady Panthers would take a 2-0 lead after two innings off an RBI single from Swartz.

The Union County bats broke the game open in the top of the third when the Lady Panthers would push across four runs. Gowder, Harper, Beltnick, and Amanda Mason all crossed home plate during the top half of the third inning. Gowder sparked the offense again with a two run homerun in the top of the fourth. The last of the Union runs came in the sixth inning when Sullivan tripled in Lentz and Whitney Kelley knocked in Sullivan. The game was called after six innings with Union County leading by ten runs. When asked about her team's progress, Coach Stewart answered, "we are hitting better this year. Last year we finished around .250 (team batting average) this year we are close to 50 points higher. We've probably doubled our amount of hits. The pitching is great! It is probably better than what it was this time last year."