Clear Creek Middle School closed out its softball season last week.
The Cats were on the road Monday in Union County and the Panthers earned an 11-6 win. CCMS was at home the following day as Lumpkin County came to town and the Indians won, 20-8.
Versus Union, Sarah Dale and Jaylee McDaniel combined for 12 strikeouts. Cheyanne Medlin hit two singles as McDaniel, Maddie Patterson and Dale each had a hit. Runs were scored by Medlin, Dale, McDaniel, Emma Cagle, Makayla Martin and Mia Henson.
Against Lumpkin, CCMS plated runs by Dale, Lily Fortune, Cagle, Martin and Elainah Cox in the first inning. In the second, Fortune, McDaniel, Cox, Henson and Gracie Gaitanoglou all collected hits for the Cats.
“In the third, Dale hit a double to start us off and Jaylee hit a single, but we fell short this inning and didn’t capitalize. By the end of the third, we were down 11-8, and just couldn’t catch up as the game played out,” said head coach Tina McDaniel.
CCMS hosted Union a week earlier on Sept. 21 and celebrated its eighth-grade players. The Panthers struck early to earn a 6-4 win.
UCMS plated four runs in the first inning and one in the fifth. CCMS scored two in the second and fifth innings. Lady Cat hits were tallied by Fortune, Medlin, Dale, McDaniel and Henson, but 10 runners were stranded on base.
“When you leave runners in scoring position, it is tough to battle back from that,” McDaniel said.
The Cats traveled to White County for a double header Sept. 24 and endured a 5-4 loss in game one ahead of a 2-2 tie in game two.
“Our defense kept us in game one, and we battled down to the last at bat (tied 4-4). Gaitanoglou had five defensive stops at third base that resulted in outs and McDaniel recorded five strikeouts, but it wasn’t enough to hold them off,” said McDaniel.
White scored its two runs in the first inning of game two. The Cats’ runs were scored by Medlin and Fortune in the third inning were the result of White errors.
“Game two ended in a tie due to no lights at WCMS since we had to play a double header due to so many rainouts,” McDaniel said.
CCMS posted a 1-10-1 record on the season. Gaitanoglou, Fortune and Chloe Prosser are the Cats only eighth graders, and they will return most of their team next year.
“We have a young team with only three eighth graders. We have improved so much from the first of the season until now,” McDaniel said.
“The scoreboard is not indicative of all the improvements we have made. We ended the season playing our best ball, and I am excited for the program moving forward into next season.”