By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It only took five innings for the conference-leading Lady Panthers to dispose of Russellville on Thursday at the Conrade Sports Complex. Cabot watched the Lady Cyclones jump out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but would come back to control the remainder of the contest.
The bottom of the fifth would end the game without Russellville getting the chance to answer six Cabot runs in the frame that took an already-respectable 6-2 lead to a 12-2 rout that activated the run rule.
The Lady Cyclones led 1-0 after one, but it would not last very long, as the Lady Panthers went on a hitting spree in the bottom of the second. Becca Bakalekos started things off in the second with single, followed by another single by Crystal Cox. Both of those runs would score when senior Haley Dougan’s hit produced an error from Russellville to hand Cabot the lead for the first and only time.
Jamie Sterrenberg drove in Dougan with a double, and she was scored on a triple for freshman Jennifer Bock. Bock would score the final run of the inning when the Lady Cyclones gave up their second error of the frame, this time on a hit by Jessica Lanier.
The score remained the same through the third and fourth innings, until Russellville added a run in the top of the fifth. A single that made its way past Cabot third baseman Aston Seidl brought in the Lady Cyclones’ final score of the game, but the Lady Panthers were only getting started in the runs department.
Cox led off for Cabot in the decisive fifth inning, but took a K at the hands of the Lady Cyclones’ hurler. Dougan followed with an infield hit to second base, and a single for Sterrenberg turned into yet another Russellville error which allowed the senior shortstop to take two bases, as Dougan advanced to third.
A second error scored Dougan to give Bock an RBI, and a fielder’s choice hit by Rachel Glover was thwarted with some expert running by Sterrenberg. She was caught between third and the plate, but led the catcher almost all the way back to third, beating the throw to avoid the out. Both runners would score one batter later when Lanier launched the ball into left center field for a double. That would give the Lady Panthers a 10-2 lead with only one out.
Seidl scored Lanier on a single to center, and then took the final score of the game when a hit by Bakalekos resulted in an error at second by the Lady Cyclones.
The win improves the Lady Panthers’ records to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in the 7A-Central Conference. Cabot took on Nettleton last night on the road in non-conference play, and will return to league action against Conway at home on Tuesday.
