In rolling to four straight wins to open the season, the Harlan County Lady Bears had no trouble producing runs and hitting the ball hard up and down the lineup.
The Lady Bears seem to have lost much of that aggressiveness in losing five of their last six and were especially soft in a 3-1 loss Thursday against visiting Bell County. Harlan County was limited to three hits by Mataya Ausmus, and the Lady Bears made seven outs on soft ground balls or pop ups to second base. The Lady Cats broke a four-game losing streak with the win, including a 20-2 loss a night earlier against Whitley County.
“We’re going to have to regain our focus offensively,” Harlan County coach Shelby Burton said. “We came out with our bats hot to start the season, but right now we’re just not driving the ball. I think we’re thinking too much and second-guessing ourselves.”
Ausmus pitched 5 1/3 innings to earn the win as she struck out four and walked two. Camdyn Thomas struck out three and walked three as she recorded the first five outs in one trip through the HC lineup.
The 5-4 Lady Cats were led on offense by Ausmus, who hit a home run in the first inning and a single in the third. Jada Boateng added two singles. Jordan Muncy contributed a single.
Jenna Wilson had a double for the 7-8 Lady Bears, while Jade Burton and Lesleigh Brown added singles.
Ausmus gave the Lady Cats an early 1-0 lead, then singled with two outs in the third and scored on Boateng’s hit after stealing second. Muncy added an RBI single in the fifth inning.
Wilson doubled to open the fourth inning, took third on an errant throw and scored on Lesleigh Brown’s ground out.
The Lady Bears had two runners on base in each of the fifth and sixth innings but couldn’t come up with a key hit.
“Hats off to Bell County. They wanted it more than we did,” Burton said. “Maybe this will get us a little more hungry. Sometimes an upset should drive you a little bit more.”
The two teams will meet again Monday at Bell County.
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The Lady Bears fell 9-1 to visiting South Laurel on Tuesday.
Wilson led HCHS with two singles. Blair, Brown and Burton had one single each.
Blair struck out three and walked none as she gave up four earned runs in seven innings.
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Bell County 101 010 0 — 3. 5. 2
Harlan County 000 100 0 — 1. 3. 2
Thomas, Ausmus (2) and Helton; Blair and Burton. WP — Ausmus. LP — Blair (6-6). HR — Ausmus.