Lady Tigers defeat HCHS in finals

Published 4:40 pm Tuesday, April 24, 2018

In a possible regional tournament preview, Clay County rallied from an early deficit to edge Harlan County 4-1 in the championship game of the Wizard of Ozz Classic on Saturday night at Letcher Central.

Both teams won their pools, sweeping three games, to earn a spot in the championship game.

Harlan County (8-5) took an early lead when sophomore catcher Emily Long hit a mammoth solo homer in the second inning to make the score 1-0.

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Clay bounced back with one run in the fourth to pull even, then scored three in the fifth as Shelby Phillips and Brianda Owens each had RBI doubles after two HCHS errors.

Owens pitched a complete game for the undefeated Lady Tigers, giving up six hits while striking out seven and walking one.

Destinee Jenkins suffered the loss as she allowed four runs on four hits in five innings, with one strikeout and one walk. Kacie Russell pitched the final inning and struck out one.

Long led the Lady Bears with a homer and single. Russell, Nikki Creech, Brandy Adams and Lainey Cox contributed one single each.

The Lady Bears will return to a action Thursday at home against Knox Central.

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Harlan County 010 000 0 — 1 6 4

Clay County 000 130 x — 4 5 2

Jenkins, Russell (5) and Long; Owens and Smith. WP — Owens. LP — Jenkins (8-5).