Escambia County Lady Blue Devil Kaylee Cox opened the second game of her team’s regional appearance with a two-run dinger, but it would not be enough for ECHS, as they fell to Jackson.

The Lady Blue Devils (15-12) held the lead through four innings, but the balls would fall against them when the game went to extra innings, with the Lady Aggies coming out on top 9-8.

With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning, Cox forced a pop fly by a Jackson batter, but the hit turned into a sacrifice fly that scored the winning run for the Lady Aggies.

Escambia County had a chance to pull ahead in the top of the eighth with Ashleigh Simpkins leading off with a triple, but the next  three batters all balked at getting her across the plate.

With the ending of the team’s season, ECHS Head Softball Coach Darryl Otwell said he thought his team played well in their first-ever regional.

“The young girls were excited and they competed hard,” he said. “We swung the bats much better this game, but we still had some trouble executing on defense. Overall, I thought our first region appearance was good.”

Early in the contest, things looked to be going in Escambia County’s favor as they took a 2-0 lead after Cox’s home run and eventually led 7-5 moving to the bottom of the fifth.

In the fifth inning, the Lady Aggies took advantage of a couple of pitches and turned them into three runs to grab their first lead of the game 8-7.

The Lady Blue Devils tied the game at 8 in the top of the sixth, but fell off in crunch time with the Lady Aggies scoring the walkoff win in the bottom of the eighth.

With this experience, the Lady Blue Devils could be in a better position next year with 10 girls back, Otwell said.

“We have a lot of girls coming back,” he said. “I don’t see why we won’t come back stronger and compete for a regional championship.”

Headland 4, ECHS 0
Momentum went against the Escambia County Lady Blue Devils in their opening game of the AHSAA South Region Tournament.

Five hits kept them in the game, the Lady Devils (15-11) were unable to score, as the Headland Lady Rams earned a 4-0 shutout.

Jasmine Ireland led ECHS going 2-for-3, Headland’s offense controlled the game.

The Lady Rams held a 2-0 lead moving into the bottom of the sixth, which is when they scored two more runs to put the contest out of reach.