Stone softball raising their game in district battles

The Stone Memorial Lady Panthers have raised their level of play as they came out with very good efforts earlier this week against tough district foes Upperman and Livingston Academy.

SMHS, under the guidance of first-year head coach Brittany Bilbrey, opened the week on a tough note when it took Upperman to the brink before losing 5-4 in a heartbreaker.

However, Stone Memorial came back on Tuesday of this week to knock off a very good Livingston Academy team, 2-1.

Upperman took the early lead scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Stone Memorial came back with two runs in the top of the third. Cadence Cox had a two-run single to knot the score.

The Lady Bees tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-2. However, SMHS came back again in the sixth to tie the score at 4-4.

Upperman got a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the 5-4 win.

Cox got the start in the circle for Stone. She surrendered five runs, four earned, on eight hits.

Breanna Looper, Cox and Ashley Whittenburg had two hits each for the Lady Panthers. Cox and Whittenburg also had two runs batted in each.

In the battle with Livingston, Stone Memorial got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a big RBI hit by Kara VonAchen to make it 1-0.

The Lady Panthers picked up their second run in the third inning when VonAchen scored a run with a sacrifice fly.

Cox was awesome in the circle for Stone Memorial. She gave up one run on two hits. She struck out six and walked one.

VonAchen had two runs batted in for SMHS. Hanna Barnes, ninth in the Stone lineup, came away with two hits in two at-bats.