NEW LEXINGTON - Coach Dave Ratliff is raising expectations at New Lexington.
His
team displayed that never-quit attitude on Wednesday, as New Lexington
rallied for a 4-3 win over visiting Maysville in Muskingum Valley League
softball action.
It was the second straight contest
which New Lexington (2-1, 1-1 MVL) needed a comeback. The Panthers fell
behind 4-0 before beating Albany Alexander 8-7 in eight innings on
Tuesday.
"We have goals, but we're also keeping our focus on one game
at a time," Ratliff said. "We have expectations for ourselves. We don't
want to be a program just fielding a team, we want to and expect to be
competitive in every game."
Maysville (2-1, 1-1) held
leads of 2-0 and 3-2, but New Lexington overcame those deficits and
their own missed opportunities to come away with the victory.
New
Lex had a chance for a big inning in the home half of the fifth,
loading the bases with three straight hits. However, Maysville center
fielder Hallie Bennett made a one-out, diving catch in the left-field
gap to limit the rally to one run.
Winning pitcher Bailey Harris, who struck out seven and
allowed seven hits, shut out Maysville in the next two innings to give
New Lex an opportunity in the seventh. Rainbow Ratliff led off with a
double, and pinch runner Leah Forson scored the tying run on Layona
Davis' infield single.
After Maysville took a 3-2 lead in
the top of the eighth on a passed ball, Harris started the game-winning
rally with a leadoff single in the bottom half. Emily Robinson followed
with a double and Miranda Ward's infield single loaded the bases.
After
Foster struck out the next batter, New Lex tied the game on an infield
single and two batters later, Kennadee Dillon singled home Robinson for
the decisive run.
"This showed our character with the way
we've bounced back," Ratliff said. "We told the girls they need to have
short memories, and they keep battling."
New Lex gained
confidence from last year's regional run and has a strong lineup.
Robinson doubled twice and singled, Ward and Rainbow Ratliff each added a
double and a single, and Davis and Dillon had two singles apiece to
lead a 13-hit attack.
Ratliff noted chemistry can't be overlooked.
"There's
a family aspect with this group," he said. "We all have something
invested in this whether you start or come off the bench. It's paying
dividends so far."
Foster took the loss.
While it was a tough loss, Maysville coach Greg Vaughn told his team, "there's no time to sulk or be upset.
"It's
going to be this way all year in the league," he said. "There's a lot
of good team, and it's not going to be easy to win a championship. We
didn't execute, but they did what they needed to do. This was our first
big game. We weren't good enough, but I do know we will get better."