By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Cabot did exactly what it needed to do — close out the conference season strong.
The Lady Panthers won their fourth and fifth games in a row on Tuesday with a sweep over Mt. Saint Mary at Wade Sports Complex. The Lady Panther bats were hot enough during an 8-1 win in Game 1, and a blistering 15-0 run-ruled win for Cabot in the second game secured a spot in the top half of the final Central standings.
The two wins improved the Lady Panthers to 9-9 overall and 8-6 in the 7A-Central Conference. Cabot finished as the No. 4 seed from the Central conference, and began state tournament play at Russellville on Friday evening after Leader deadlineswith a game against Rogers, the No. 5 seed out of the 7A-West Conference.
Lady Panthers coach Becky Steward was relieved to get the wins, saying she was pleasantly surprised by her team’s strong showing at the plate in both contests.
“Mt. Saint Mary was a team that scared me,” Steward said. “Because Bryant only beat them 2-1 the week before. You just never know with the Mount — they’re young just like we are, but I definitely didn’t expect us to go out and hit the way we did in that second game.”
Junior Cherie Barfield earned both wins for Cabot on Tuesday. She struck out 13 MSM batters in the opener while allowing six hits, one of which was an inside-the-park home run to lead off the top of the third inning for the only Belles’ score of the night.
An inside-the-park homer also led to the first Cabot runs of the evening. Three-hole hitter Chelsea Conrade’s shot to centerfield scored Kristi Flesher, who reached on an error moments earlier, to give the Lady Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Another Belle error allowed Rachel Lamb to reach, while walks to Tara Boyd and future Central Baptist College Lady Mustang Ashton Seidl loaded the bases. Becca Bakalekos quickly cleared the bases with a shot to deep left field. All three runners scored, and Bakalekos made it all the way to third for a triple.
The Lady Panthers started back at the top of the order for the second inning, with a similar result. Lead-off Brooke Taylor walked, and Flesher moved her to third with a single. A grounder into left field by Lamb scored both runners, with Lamb coming in for the game’s final run moments later on a single by pinch hitter Kayla Hart.
