WILLIAMSBURG — Behind a dominant outing in the pitcher’s circle and steady production at the plate, Whitley County handled Barbourville, 5-1, Monday to continue its momentum.
The Lady Colonels (8-19) set the tone early, pushing across a run in the first inning before adding to their lead in the middle innings. A two-run fourth inning and another pair of runs in the fifth inning gave Whitley County all the breathing room it needed.
“Nice for our team to get another win for sure,” Whitley County coach David Halcomb said. “I believe it was a learning experience in that I thought we came out a little flat and didn’t have a lot of energy, that’s on me. We discussed it with them after the game, that every time they cross those lines they have to bring it.
“Our pitching and defense was solid, but we struggled offensively and didn’t make adjustments we needed to make,” he added. “This is a fun team and I’m proud of them. We will learn from this and it will pay dividends for us somewhere down the road.”
Olivia Anderson provided the early spark with a home run, finishing with an RBI, while Jazlynn Brown led the offense with a 3-for-4 effort and two runs scored. Madilyn Rains drove in a pair, and Jalyn McKay added two hits and an RBI as Whitley County totaled 10 hits.
But the story started, and ended, with Megan McKiddy.
McKiddy was in complete control, tossing a complete game while allowing just four hits and one run. The right-hander struck out 10 and walked only two, consistently working ahead in the count and keeping Barbourville off balance.
Barbourville (2-17) managed its lone run in the seventh, but never found sustained offense against McKiddy. Joselynn Grubb led the Lady Tigers with two hits while Kylie Newsome scored the team’s only run thanks to a run-scoring hit from Katie Lewis.
