Lady Panther softball finishes with 24 wins
Girls pick up two wins in State Sectionals
By TODD FORREST Sentinel Writer

The Union County Lady Panthers opened up State Playoff action with 6AA Region Champion, the Spartans of GAC. The Spartans jumped on Senior Pitcher April Harper and the Lady Panthers early with a five run first inning. Harper issued three walks and hit one batter as GAC sent nine hitters to the plate in the first. GAC added one run in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead.

The Lady Panthers answered with two outs in the sixth when Harper helped her own cause with a solo homerun. However GAC responded with three more runs in the sixth to take a 9-1 lead.

Union County wouldn't go away quietly as their first three runners reached base for a two run, seventh inning.

Kayla Gowder led off the inning by reaching on an error, Tori Dyer singled, and Brooklyn Swartz also reached on an error, to load the bases for leadoff hitter Kaitlyn Seabolt. Seabolt grounded out but drove in Gowder in the process. Brittany Massey-Lentz followed with a single that brought Dyer around to score.

Lady Panthers pound Pike County 11-3

After falling to GAC the night before, Union County was forced to play Pike County at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. The Lady Panthers weren't affected by the early start as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead after four innings. April Harper picked up the win on the mound, striking out a career high seventeen batters, in seven innings of work. Freshman Tori Dyer led the offense with three RBI's and Gowder went 2 for 2 with two walks, and three runs scored.

Kaley Sullivan got the scoring started with a two out single in the top of the first and was driven in by Freshman Whitney Kelley.

Union County exploded with a five run second inning, and with Harper on the mound, that would be more than enough run support. Kayla Gowder doubled and was driven in by Tori Dyer. Then with two outs, Kaitlyn Seabolt singled, Brittany Massey-Lentz and Sullivan would walk to load the bases for Kelley. Kelley would bring all three girls around to score when she reached on an error by the rightfielder, to give Union a 6-0 lead after two.

The Lady Panthers added an insurance run in the third when Gowder walked and was singled home for her second run of the game by Brooklyn Swartz.

Union County's offense went off for four runs in the fourth. Kelley and Harper got things started with an error and hit batter. Kelley was knocked in on an RBI double from Gowder and Harper by a two RBI single from Dyer. Dyer would score on Swartz's RBI single to give the Lady Panthers an 11-0 lead.

Pike County would go on to add two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Union County rolls over Rockmart 6-1

April Harper would pick up her second win of the day on a two hit, six strikeout performance against 7AA Rockmart. The Lady Panthers scored six unanswered runs after falling behing 1-0 in the second. Freshman Leadoff hitter Kaitlyn Seabolt would set the pace for the Lady Panther offense, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored.

Union County trailed 1-0 in the top of the fourth when Seabolt got things started with a leadoff single. Seabolt would later score on a groundout by Freshman Whitney Kelley, Harper and Kayla Gowder each added RBI singles, scoring Kaley Sullivan and finally Harper to give Union County a 3-1 lead midway through the fourth.

Two more Lady Panthers would score on the sixth when Amanda Mason drove in Freshman Tori Dyer with an RBI single. Mason would score on a base-hit by Brooklyn Swartz.

Union County scored it's sixth and final run in the seventh when Seabolt set the table once again and was driven in on an RBI single from Kelley.

Coach Stewart has been delighted with her three freshmen (Tori Dyer, Whitney Kelley, and Kaitlyn Seabolt) this season and especially in the playoffs. "Those three made the most impact on the postseason. All three really stepped up in the Region/Sectional tournaments. All three wound up batting over .300 for the year. It was very promising to see their ability to hit some of the best pitching in AA as freshmen."

Union falls to Wesleyan 8-6 in final game of the season

The Union County Lady Panther's season would come to a heartbreaking end against 6AA opponent, The Wesleyan Wolves. Union County would take a 3-0 lead after one but Wesleyan answered with four runs in the second and would hold an 8-4 advantage going into the bottom of the seventh. Union County managed to score two runs and had the winning run on base but fell just short 8-6.

April Harper would pitch her fourth complete game in 18 hours striking out three and walking just one Wesleyan hitter. "They hit Harper well." Said Coach Stewart after the game. "We would have beaten Wesleyan nine times out of ten if we were fresh. After her third game she (Harper) was definately out of gas." Union County's number two pitcher, Billie Owenby was not with the team due to a family emergency.

Kaitlyn Seabolt had another strong perfomance at the plate, going 3 for 4 and scoring two runs. Brittany Massey-Lentz added two hits and two runs and Kaley Sullivan also scored two runs. Whitney Kelley drove in three runs on three singles.

After Wesleyan took a 4-3 lead after two, Union County would respond with a run in the third to tie the game up at 4-4. With two outs and Sullivan on first, the Lady Panthers would string together back to back singles with Harper delivering the game-tying hit.

Wesleyan would add one more run in the bottom half of the inning, two more in the bottom of the fourth, and one in the bottom of the fifth to go up 8-4.

The score remained 8-4 until Union County came to bat in the seventh with it's season on the line. Kayla Gowder would pinch hit and lead off the inning with a single. However, a double play would leave the Lady Panthers with two outs, nobody on base, and still trailing by four. Luckily for Union, they were at the top of the lineup. Seabolt and Massey-Lentz each delivered a base hit to bring Sullivan to the plate. Sullivan reached on an error by the Wesleyan shortstop to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Freshman Whitney Kelley. Kelley who hasn't played like a freshman during the entire postseason, knocked in two runs with a base hit to cut the Wesleyan lead to 8-6. That would bring April Harper (the go-ahead run) to the plate. Harper would draw a walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases but that was as far as the rally would go as Wesleyan recorded an out three pitches later.

This year's senior class was part of two state tournaments and won 49 games in two years. Coach Jessica Stewart had nothing but praise for her senior players, "This year has been great! I had six seniors that were great leaders and role models to the younger girls. They demonstrated dedication and hard work throughout the season. Especially in the Wesleyan game when five of the six seniors reached base in the seventh inning. When we were down four with two outs, they never gave up and we scored two and had the bases loaded to end the game."

Seniors Kaley Sullivan, April Harper, and Brittany Massey-Lentz are all being looked at by colleges and should continue to play softball at the next level. When asked what advice she had for the outgoing senior class, Coach Stewart said, "Work hard and never give up at whatever you do in life."