COLONY — A pair of Crest Lady Lancer rallies fell short as Southeast escaped with a 15-13, 10-9 sweep Monday.
An RBI single by senior shortstop Delany Ramsey pulled the Lady Lancers within a run in the finale, but a groundout on the next at-bat sealed the loss and leaves the Lady Lancers still looking for their first win of 2025.
“We just dropped it by 60 feet,” Crest coach Dakotah Sporing said. “I told them that if they take away the first inning of that game, it’s probably the most complete six innings we’ve played. We’re trending in the right direction.”
Crest had the lead for much of the opener, but a Southeast surge short-circuited in the later innings. After giving up three runs in the opening frame, Crest responded with RBI singles from junior third baseman Aylee Beckmon, outfielder Jaycee Schmidt and junior outfielder Kinley Edgerton along with Ramsey stealing home to take a 4-3 lead. Another Beckmon RBI single and a Ramsey theft at home plate added two more runs in the second inning.
Third inning singles from junior pitcher Kaelin Nilges and junior first baseman McKenna Powell gave Crest a 6-4 lead. However, the harder the Lady Lancers fought the more ground they appeared to give up until eventually succumbing after Southeast scored seven unanswered runs to take the opener.
Beckmon finished the opener with a team-leading two RBIs after hitting in 4 of 5 appearances. Nilges hit pay dirt in one of her three hits over five appearances while Ramsey scored a pair of runs on a pair of hits in four appearances. On the mound, Nilges took the loss while tallying four strikeouts, but gave up 13 walks.
Despite consistently scoring over the seven-inning finale, the Lady Lancers failed to pick up the runs when they needed them most. A Southeast five-run first inning and a three-run third inning had Crest playing from behind for much of the contest. A bases-loaded walk and a Schmidt RBI single put Crest on the scoreboard, followed by a second inning bases-loaded walk and a steal at home by senior third baseman Cursten Allen.
Crest continued chipping away at Southeast’s lead with another steal at home, this time from senior outfielder Karlee Boots, another RBI single from Ramsey in the third inning, and RBI singles in the third from Nilges and Ramsey. However, a scoreless sixth inning and just one run on another Ramsey RBI single in the seventh allowed Southeast to pull away.
Despite the loss, Coach Sporing likes the direction of his team. They return to the diamond Thursday for a road game against Southern Lyon County.
“We’re doing the little things right in practice and getting more consistent,” Sporing said. “We’re getting into the groove and starting to meet expectations. We’ll piece it together slowly. We’ve got another one Thursday, then a tough stretch coming up. We’ll see.”
