Brashear Faces Knox County in 1^st Round District Softball

Thursday’s game marks the third meeting between these teams with Knox County holding a 2-0 advantage in the series.

Brashear and Knox County had already played two close games this season. Knox County took the 1^st game 1-0 in extra innings at the Schuyler County Tournament and then beat the Lady Tigers 2-0 a few days later. This game looked to be another low-scoring close game as both teams went down in order in the 1^st and 2^nd innings. Things got a little more interesting in the 3^rd when Knox County’s Bisch beat out a 1-out slow roller to 2^nd inexplicably running to the white side, rather than the orange half of the safety base. This was followed by a 3-2 count, check-swing walk by Goodrich. Parrish then lined a 1^st pitch double to left center to put Knox up 2-0. Brashear’s pitching and defense got stingy after the 3^rd however, sending Knox batters down in order the rest of the game except for when the leadoff batter of the 4^th reached on an error. Things didn’t look good for Brashear being down 2-0 since the Lady Tiger bats have been pretty quiet as of late. Things looked better in the bottom of the 3^rd when Shelby Rogers drew a leadoff walk, but then was forced at 2^nd as Stephanie Elsea reached on a fielder’s choice. One out later, Jessi Hill came to the plate and lined a bomb to right center for a triple which plated Elsea. Brashear got the rest of their offense in the 6^th when Hailee Kelsey took advantage of a bobbled ground ball to reach 1^st. Christina Scudder followed with a hard grounder to third. The fielder knocked it down, but precious time elapsed making the throw to 2^nd too late to force the speedy Kelsey. As the throw was relayed to 1^st too late to get Scudder, Kelsey alertly sprinted for 3^rd and came home when the 1^st to 3^rd throw skipped in the dirt. With the game now tied, Abby McKim ripped a line drive to right-center for a double scoring Scudder from 2^nd to give the Lady Tigers a 3-2 lead. Knox went 1-2-3 in the top of the 7^th and Brashear advanced to the semi-finals of District 9. Stephanie Elsea had a single for Brashear, Abby McKim doubled, and Jessi Hill had a triple. Scudder picked up the win giving up 2 hits and striking out 13. Bisch and Parrish had hits for Knox County. Miller took the loss, striking out 7. Brashear will face top-seeded Cairo Friday at 4 p.m.