Gallery • 3 Photos

John Crisologo

Corbin's Alayna Reynolds slid into second base as Riley Maggard took a throw in Friday's game.

Down 11-0 midway through the second inning Friday, the Harlan County Lady Bears appeared well on the way to a blowout loss against visiting Corbin.
The only question was how many innings the game would last.
Harlan County survived three innings, then five, then found themselves down 15-9 going into the bottom of the seventh before rallying with seven runs to win 16-15.
Jacey Lewis and Brittleigh Estep drove in runs with hits, but when Brandy Adams, the Lady Bears’ best hitter, was retired, Corbin led by four and was one out from a win.
Kerrigan Creech and Allee Galloway followed with hits. Brenna Early was safe when her fly ball was dropped in left field. Honesty Thomas was safe on an error at second base, setting the stage for eighth-grader Maddy Blair with the game tied. Blair’s fly ball into short center fell in just ahead of a diving Lady Hound for the game-winning hit.
“That’s the best one I’ve seen since I’ve been here. What a great comeback. I’m a little numb right now,” Harlan County coach Tim McElyea said. “Those first two or three innings were really bad on defense but we made some adjustments and tightened it down.
“It was a great battle. That’s a quality club. They hit the ball. Kerrigan struggled a little early but put together four zeroes at the end. We also hit the ball well. Our hitting has come a long way. Coach (Destinee) Jenkins has really worked with them on hitting.”
Creech struck out six and walked one and shut out Corbin over the final four innings after giving up 15 runs in the first three, due in large part to seven errors.
Estep led the Lady Bears at the plate with five RBIs on a triple and three singles. Galloway added a double and single. Lewis, Adams and Early had two singles each. Riley Maggard had a double. Blair added a single.
Rebecca Stewart led Corbin with a double and three singles. Kaylee Morales had a double and two singles. Shelby Stewart single twice. Alayna Reynolds, Kaila Stidham, Bailey Stewart, Brianna Rucker, Haylie Gray and Kennedy Guiher added one single each.
Corbin scored four runs in the first inning, then sent 11 to the plate in the second inning and score seven more for an 11-0 lead.
Maggard drove in two runs with a double and Estep and Adams drove in one each with singles as HCHS cut the deficit to 11-4. Corbin answered with four runs in the third with the help of two HCHS errors for a 15-4 lead. Harlan County scored the final 12 runs to rally for the win.
Harlan County (11-5) faces another tough 50th District opponent on Monday at home against South Laurel. Corbin (9-14) plays host to Pineville on Monday.
———
Corbin 474 000 0 — 15. 15. 6
Harlan County 040 140 0 — 16. 14. 7
Guiher, S. Stewart (7) and Morales; Creech and Adams. WP — Creech (10-4). LP — Guiher.