Lady Cats pull away from Lee

A long home run by Hope Mynard catapulted the Enterprise softball team to a 7-1  Class 7A, Area 3 victory March 9 against Robert E. Lee.

"A win is a win," EHS softball coach Mollie Mitchell said. "It's always nice to start off 2-0 in area (play) so that's good for us."

The Lady Cats took a 1-0 edge into the bottom of the fourth inning.

Hannah Mynard led off the frame with a walk, and promptly came home ahead of Hope Mynard, who crushed a pitch over the fence in center field.

"I hope we can expect that all year," Mitchell said. "Hannah, right before her, had a great at-bat and got a walk. That's big for Hannah to be patient, know what she's looking for and draw that walk. Then Hope came up huge again for us."

The blast gave Enterprise a 3-0 advantage.

Lee scored its lone run in the fifth inning on a wild pitch, but EHS pitched well and played solid defense the rest of the frame to prevent further damage.

Enterprise stretched its lead to 5-1 in the bottom half when Emily Cronk and Kelsey Thomas also scored on wild pitches.

The Lady Cats' solid defense continued in the top of the sixth with a 6-4-3 double play after a leadoff walk.

"We turned a big double play, which got us sparked a little bit," Mitchell said. "It was a spark for some energy. It kind of got us excited, and then we went into that sixth inning with a lot of energy offensively. (It was) just one hit after the other and tied a lot of things together so it was good to see that."

The Lady Cats loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth before Mariah Farris scored their sixth run on a passed ball.

Alex Watson, who pinch ran after Danielle Holley reached on an error, crossed the plate with the final run after Cronk hit a sacrifice fly.

Watson also started in the circle for Enterprise. She threw four innings and struck out five before Hannah Mynard entered the circle and finished the game. She fanned three batters.

"It's great to have two very good pitchers, and to know if at any point one or the other is struggling the other one is going to come in and pick up the slack," Mitchell said. "I have talked to them time and time again about being a pitching staff and working together. We don't have to rely on one person. (It's good) for a team to know we've got somebody else who's always going to be ready to step up. They both pitched great tonight, which is always nice. 

The Lady Cats took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning after Hope Mynard reached on an error, was bunted to third by Farris and scored when Katie Dennis ripped a single to right.

"That's a big hit for Katie," Mitchell said. "She keeps working and keeps working every single day. It was big for her to come out and get a good hit for us right there, especially in such a crucial moment."