By Craig Brown
The Dillon Christian School Lady Warriors traveled to Tatum on Thursday night for a region matchup with the Lady Dragons of Marlboro Academy.
The Dragons are the best team the Warriors have faced this season and proved a little too much for the young Warrior team, taking the Warriors 14-0 in five innings.
Dragon Head Coach Boyd McLaurin stated that the Dragons were not without problems this season either. The defending state champions have lost two region games this season, placing them in the number two spot in Region 2-2A. The Dragons seem to have an over confidence attitude at times where the Warriors suffer from a lack of confidence. The Warriors actually played the Dragons well and made very few mistakes but the Dragons heavy hitters and good fielders made the difference.
The Dragons also have two of the state’s better pitchers in Kate McLaurin and Bailey Jacobs and both were used against the Warriors Thursday. McLaurin pitched innings one and two, posting five strikeouts and allowing one hit and one walked batter with no runs. Jacobs pitched innings three, four, and five, posting seven strikeouts and allowing one hit and no runs.
For the Warriors, Jamie Carpenter held the power hitters to just two hits in the first two innings. But no pitcher can hold the Dragons for long, and five hits were given up in innings three and four with seven of the Dragons’ 14 runs coming in the bottom of the fourth inning.
At bat for the Warriors, Makalai Sweat was 1-for-2, Jamie Carpenter was 1-for-2 with a stolen base, and Ansley Hamer got to base on a walk.
On defense, Lauren Lee played near perfect at catcher, and outfielders Ansley Hamer, Madison King, and Greta Seay prevented several Dragon hits with good glove play and stopped hard hit line drives from becoming doubles or triples by quick recovery, getting the ball back in play.
Freshman Sara Bass was moved up to Varsity and played like she was a veteran player. Bass leads the Warriors in put outs.
The Warriors will travel to Bishopville today for a 6:00 p.m. game with Robert E. Lee and are back on the road this Thursday for a 5:00 p.m. game with Trinity/Byrnes in Florence.
